Pubdate: Mon, 10 Jan 2005 Source: Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA) Copyright: 2005 Worcester Telegram & Gazette Contact: http://www.telegram.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/509 Note: only publishes letters from state residents. Author: Anna Shen QUESTIONING MARIJUANA MYTHS Evidence Contradicts No-Big-Deal Attitude Toward Teens Smoking Pot Jay and Hope Jones are like many parents who work hard to provide for their three children. They sent their kids to private schools near Los Angeles, wanting to ensure their entry into the finest universities. The Joneses also wanted to protect their kids from some of the problems associated with the teen-age years -- mainly, access to illegal and recreational drugs. About 1 years ago, when their oldest son, Eric, was a freshman in high school, Jones heard her son on the phone with a friend. She sensed something was odd about the conversation. "If I didn't know better," she remembers turning to her husband and saying, "that was a drug deal going on." They confronted Eric, but he adamantly denied it. Jones considered herself an involved parent -- always checking where her children were going, calling other parents and enforcing rules. She was a stay-at-home mother and if her kids had parties at home, she constantly checked to make sure they were staying out of trouble. She thought she knew all the signs of drug abuse. But when Eric became withdrawn and moody, her husband dismissed his behavior. "Jay told me that 'kids will be kids,' " she recalled. Things got worse and four years ago, then -year-old Eric was kicked out of the house. His parents told him that when he was ready for help, to let them know. Three months later, Eric came home and told his parents he thought he had a problem. He checked into rehab for 3 days and came out sober. It was then that the Joneses discovered that Eric had been smoking pot since seventh grade, and that his younger brother, Doug, and sister, Melissa, had soon followed. As it turned out, all three of them had dealt drugs under their parents' noses. Jones wishes she had seen the signs earlier. Misconceptions surrounding pot, she said, are part of the problem. The popular consensus is that marijuana is harmless, especially since it is used for medicinal purposes. Besides, some of today's parents are children of the '6s, when drug use was more in vogue. "The younger people begin using marijuana, especially before age 1, the likelier they are to become addicted to an addictive substance," said Dr. Marvin Seppala, chief medical officer at the Hazelden Foundation, a recovery clinic in Minnesota with centers in Chicago, New York and Oregon. "Their addiction is both physiological and psychological." The brain is still developing -- emotionally, cognitively, intellectually, spiritually, Seppala said. "Studies on the brain have shown that pot use alters the hippocampus and affects short-term memory," he said. "As an adolescent, there are remarkable experiences that contribute to growth ... these need to be set down into memory -- and pot use stops this." He said that youths who smoke pot become numb to their feelings during an important developmental time of life. Marijuana can also lead to arrested emotional development -- for example, a -year-old who began smoking at age 13 will relate to society with an eighth grade point of view, he said. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML, does not agree that one can become physically addicted to cannabis sativa, the medical name of marijuana. "Government research to date indicates that marijuana is not physically addictive, and that psychiatrists describe chronic marijuana use as causing mild psychological dependence," said Allen St. Pierre, executive director of NORML. He said the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which is published by the American Psychiatric Association and covers all mental health disorders, classifies marijuana use as the same psychological condition for compulsive video game users. However, NORML does agree that pot use, like drinking alcohol, is not for the underage. "Arguably, alcohol is consumed legally at age 1 because the brain of the youth has reached full development," said St. Pierre. "One can argue before a young person reaches full brain development in their early s, they should not use or have legal access to marijuana." The Jones family has had a remarkable turnaround, but it has not been easy. With counseling and 1-step programs, Jones says all her children are back on the right track. Eric is sober. He is an English major at California State University at Northridge with one year to go. Doug, now 1, is also sober and studying at a local community college and working in his dad's business. Melissa, , is in the studying to be a firefighter and holds two jobs. Below are some questions and answers surrounding marijuana and youth: Question: Is marijuana widely used among teens? Answer: Every day, almost 5, American youth ages 1 to 17 try marijuana for the first time, and more than one out of students in high school smoke marijuana on school property, according to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. An estimated 5.6 million Americans age 1 or older reported problems with illicit drug use in the past year, and more than million met diagnostic criteria for dependence on marijuana/hashish, according to the 1 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. Q: Since "kids will be kids," isn't experimenting with marijuana harmless? A: While some kids may use pot once in a while and not all pot smokers become drug addicts, "marijuana use, no matter how innocently it may begin, is a slippery slope," said Carol Falkowski, director of research communications of the Hazelden Foundation and author of "Dangerous Drugs: An Easy-to-Use Reference for Parents and Professionals" (Hazelden Publishing, $16.95). Q: Is marijuana addictive? A: There is a disagreement as to whether pot smoking leads to addiction or use of other drugs. The Hazeldon Foundation believes that marijuana itself can be addictive, physically and psychologically. However, NORML does not agree, citing studies that compare marijuana users with compulsive video-game players. Q: Has marijuana become more potent? A: With improvements in technology and more advanced growing techniques, today's marijuana is twice as strong as it was in the mid-198s, according to a study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The government believes this potency can hasten the progression from abuse to dependence. NORML, however, believes the increase in marijuana's strength is miniscule and that smoking pot alone is not harmful. St. Pierre said that "the percent increase is insignificant -- from 3.5 to 5.5 percent. With this there are no accompanying physical or mental health issues relating to more potent marijuana." Q: Is marijuana harmful to young people? A: Getting high impairs judgment, and that can lead to risky decision-making. Getting high can also contribute to general apathy, irresponsible behavior and risky choices, some authorities say. And teens who use drugs are five times more likely to have sex than teens who do not use drugs, according to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. Marijuana affects motivation and can also lead to significant health, social, learning and behavioral problems at a critical time in a young persona8TMs development. And, according to a study by the Research Triangle Institute, teens who use marijuana are twice as likely to drop out of high school than those who don't. Q: Does marijuana lead to use of harsher drugs? A: There are two points of view. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy says research shows that adolescent marijuana users are three times more likely to end up drug dependent than adult users. They also say that the earlier kids start using marijuana, the more likely they are to become adults who are dependent on drugs. But NORML's findings are that only a fraction of pot smokers go on to use harder drugs, "and an even smaller faction will go on to have an abusive relationship with other drugs," St. Pierre said. Q: Is there anything that can be done to stop kids from experimenting with marijuana? A: Yes. "Research tells us that parents' attitudes about marijuana influence their child's decisions about illicit drug use," said John P. Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. But some parents miss the boat, he said, thinking that smoking marijuana is merely experimentation when actually it's setting the groundwork for the future. As role models, parents need to stay involved and informed. Keep up with what the kids are doing and set limits with clear rules and consequences. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth