Pubdate: Tue, 28 May 2013
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2013 The New York Times Company
Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/lettertoeditor.html
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: Mitchell S. Rosenthal
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v13/n213/a07.html

A TIME WHEN MARIJUANA IS LEGAL

To the Editor:

Bill Keller gets it right: the question is no longer whether 
marijuana should be legalized, since whatever system emerges is going 
to put children at risk.

Pot is high risk for children because the part of the brain that 
censors dumb and dangerous behavior is not yet developed, while the 
pleasure-seeking part is fully functional.

So teenagers will do risky things, like driving while high. They're 
also far more likely than adults to become addicted.

Pot smoking changes brain anatomy, retards maturation and impairs 
learning, memory and judgment. At the programs of Phoenix House, the 
overwhelming majority of adolescents we have treated used no drug 
more potent than marijuana.

So once the legislators are through, it will be up to parents to 
protect children, convincing them that legal does not mean "safe" 
despite what government allows.

Somehow Mr. Keller did not add the greatest dilemma to his list, 
which is just how any system of legalization can help parents to do this.

MITCHELL S. ROSENTHAL

New York, May 20, 2013

The writer, a child and addiction psychiatrist, is the founder of Phoenix House.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom