Pubdate: Tue, 04 Nov 2008 Source: Valparaiso Times, The (Chile) Copyright: 2008 The Valparaiso Times Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/NS7x7Xiy Website: http://www.valparaisotimes.cl/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4907 Author: Matt Dillinger Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) CHILEAN GOVERNMENT TARGETS MARIJUANA IN ANTI-DRUG EFFORTS Would you believe possible side effects of smoking marijuana include memory loss, addiction, and an inability to differentiate between an oven and an icebox? That's what the Chilean government's new anti-drug commercials say. With the aim of preventing adolescents from doing drugs, the National Council for Narcotics Control (CONACE) launched the new campaign Monday. The campaign, "Return to Being Smart," began because the government grew worried over findings that suggest kids do not think there are risks involved in smoking marijuana. The name, said CONACE Prevention Director Decio Mettifogo, "comes from marijuana's effects being temporary rather than permanent, thus the word 'return.'" The commercials are demonstrations from "a manual for people under the influence of marijuana" and show simple situations, like tying one's shoes and finding where to put ice. In the commercials, an adolescent has great difficulty performing these tasks, supposedly mimicking the diminished faculties of those under the influence of marijuana. "The goal," Mettifogo told The Santiago Times, "is not to say that marijuana is a horrible thing but that it is not harmless." The campaign will last 45 days and use TV commercials and radio spots to bring the message to the nation. Officials will also distribute informational materials throughout the country. According to the Seventh National Study of Youth Drug Use and Perception, 16 percent of Chilean students between 8th grade and 12th grade said they had used marijuana in the last year, and only four out of 10 thought frequent use of the drug is harmful. "(Marijuana) is very common . . . but at school, there have been lots of campaigns about the negative effects of marijuana," 16-year-old Constanza Vidal told The Santiago Times. She added that she thinks the campaigns have had the opposite effect from what was intended and brought more attention to the drug. Twenty-four percent of Chilean high school seniors reported having used marijuana within the last month, while only five percent of 8th graders said they had. This is significantly lower than in the United States, where the 2007 Monitoring the Future Study reported that almost 38 percent of seniors had used marijuana in the past year. CONACE Executive Secretary Maria Teresa Chadwick explained, "The campaign is directed at families, especially those that have adolescent children, so they can talk together about the effects of marijuana. We are talking about a drug that is addictive." Chadwick added, "It's worrying that adolescents in our country believe that marijuana isn't harmful. They are aware of the dangers of alcohol and tobacco; but the perception of risk associated with marijuana use has diminished in recent years, because natural things are promoted as innocuous - despite scientific evidence showing marijuana is not harmless." Vanessa Carrasco, 26, agrees that people don't see marijuana as dangerous. "I think the majority of people near my age have tried marijuana at least once," she told The Santiago Times. "So, at least in urban society, marijuana use isn't looked at as anything more than people experimenting when they're young. . . . People don't really keep consuming it. It's more of a dumb thing you do when you're young. . . . I've never tried it, and it doesn't interest me . . . but, if someone else considers it good, it's not my business. " CONACE also sponsored a recent day of talks on the "neurobiology of drug addiction," held in conjunction with academics from Chile's Universidad Catolica. Two hundred 11th-grade students attended.