Pubdate: Sun, 29 Jun 2014
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Copyright: 2014 The Seattle Times Company
Contact:  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/409
Page: A16

FIND WILL TO PREVENT TEEN MARIJUANA USE

THE era of legal marijuana retail stores in Washington is set to 
begin in a few weeks, with an unprecedented and rigorous seed-to-sale 
regulatory system. Despite those regulations, the era also ushers in 
heightened anxieties about a potential increase in underage usage, 
even though sales are banned for customers under 21.

After spending 18 months working on regulations, Gov. Jay Inslee's 
administration has finally launched a prevention campaign to address 
teen usage. At a news conference Tuesday, Inslee said the state was 
trying to give parents "tools that they need to keep our kids safe."

The state Department of Health found $400,000 in its existing budget 
to pay for public-service announcements that encourage parents to 
talk to their kids about the harmful effects of marijuana on 
developing brains. Tens of thousands of copies of a prevention "tool 
kit" will be distributed through schools, thanks in part to funding 
from the marijuana industry.

This campaign should have started earlier, but better late than 
never. Initiative 502, which created the legal marijuana market, 
binds the state to fund a full-throated prevention campaign, paid for 
by proceeds from marijuana sin taxes. Because those taxes haven't yet 
materialized, prevention efforts haven't been funded - until now, on 
the eve of retail sales.

The state Liquor Control Board, which is regulating the marijuana 
market, will rightly be banning edible marijuana products with 
packaging that appeals to teens. There should be no Joe Camel of the 
legal marijuana era.

Tuesday's announcement should also be the start of a broader, deeper 
campaign to mitigate a potential increase in teen usage. A template 
is available: A decade of teen tobacco-prevention campaigns, paid for 
by the industry, dropped the rate of daily 12th-grade smokers from 29 
percent in 1997 to 9 percent in 2013.

"Just Say No" messages won't work in this era. A more nuanced 
approach, encouraging teens to forego marijuana until their brains 
fully form, is called for.

Paying for such a campaign will require discipline from the state 
Legislature. With other budget pressures, Olympia will be tempted to 
tap into future marijuana tax revenues that I-502 specifically 
dedicated to prevention.

Resist the urge. Voters approved I-502 in 2012 in part because it 
sought to shield teens from a legal marijuana market. Don't mortgage 
their future health to pay for today's fiscal demands.

Washington is leading the world in writing - from scratch - rigorous 
regulations for a recreational marijuana market. It should match that 
will and innovation in keeping teenagers as far away from that market 
as possible.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom