Pubdate: Fri, 16 Dec 2011
Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel (CA)
Copyright: 2011 Santa Cruz Sentinel
Contact: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/submitletters
Website: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/394

CONFRONTING TEEN DRUG USE

The rest of the nation appears to be catching up to Santa Cruz County 
in one unfortunate aspect: marijuana use among teens.

According to a new government report released this week, one in 15 
high school students in the U.S. smokes pot on a near-daily basis.

Near daily.

Not only is that a startling figure, it also reflects what appears to 
be the highest use since the druggy 1970s, and goes against other 
substance abuse trends showing use of alcohol, cocaine and even 
cigarettes declining in the same population.

And here's another way to consider the drug use data: If the numbers 
are true, then one in 15 high school students is either already 
addicted or well on the way to becoming addicted to increasingly 
potent marijuana.

Oh, but pot isn't addicting, runs the counter-argument. And, in 
purely physiological terms, that might be true, at least not like 
heroin is addicting.

Psychologically, however, it's all too true.

We bring up Santa Cruz County because marijuana and alcohol use have 
been significantly higher among high-schoolers in this community than 
among peers statewide.

In the latest national figures, about 25 percent of high-schoolers 
reported using marijuana. In Santa Cruz County, however, 30 percent 
of 11th-graders reported they had used marijuana, compared to 20 
percent of 11th-graders statewide. More than 40 percent of local 
11th-graders also reported drinking alcohol.

Correspondingly, the acceptance among Santa Cruz County adults of 
marijuana for recreational use, while declining slightly over the 
past two years, remains high -- about half of all adults surveyed 
still find it acceptable. The acceptance rate is higher among white 
and North County adults than in the primarily Latino South County.

The medical marijuana movement also is prevalent in Santa Cruz County 
and has burgeoned throughout the state. Federal drug authorities say 
they believe the uptick in teen pot use is partially due to the 
increasing prevalence of medical marijuana, which is available in 
dispensaries regulated in this community by local governments.

According to an inpatient director at the Betty Ford Center in Rancho 
Mirage, it's also not uncommon for young adults who enter the center 
because of substance abuse or addiction issues to show up with 
medical marijuana cards.

The message in recent years that has gone out to young people is that 
marijuana is good medicine. And while that's true for some seriously 
ill people, the prevalence of medical pot cards only drives this point home.

The teen survey also showed that teens are also influenced by their 
parents. It might seem to many parents that young people don't pay 
attention to them, but that really isn't true. If parents aren't 
bothered by their son or daughter smoking pot -- or if they smoke 
marijuana themselves somewhat regularly -- then guess what? It 
doesn't take a genius to figure out that the teens who were smoking 
pot even more prevalently 30 years ago are today's parents.

Since there are fewer drug prevention resources available today than 
just a few years ago with government funding in a free-fall downward, 
that means parents are the primary adult figures who can speak into 
their teens' lives about what chronic drug use does to a person's 
mental, physical and spiritual life.

The question is, do they really believe that's true? Do you?
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom