Pubdate: Tue, 01 Jul 2014
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
Copyright: 2014 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc
Contact:  http://www.philly.com/inquirer/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/340
Author: David Sack
Note: Dr. David Sack is board-certified in psychiatry, addiction 
psychiatry, and addiction medicine. He is chief executive of Elements 
Behavioral Health, a network of mental health and addiction treatment 
centers that includes adolescent and young
Page: A14

LEGALIZED MARIJUANA RAISING RISKS FOR CHILDREN

In states where medical and recreational cannabis sales are allowed, 
disquieting new trends and statistics are proving its unique dangers 
for those most vulnerable to its effects: children.

One such statistic is a spike in calls to poison-control centers. 
According to the National Poison Data System, calls about accidental 
ingestion of marijuana in children 9 and younger more than tripled in 
states that decriminalized marijuana before 2005. In states that 
enacted legalization from 2005 to 2011, calls increased nearly 11.5 
percent per year. Over the same period in states without 
decriminalization laws, the call rate stayed the same. In the 
decriminalized states, such calls were also more likely to result in 
criticalcare admissions. Neurological effects were the most common.

These findings led the study's authors to recommend warning labels 
and child-resistant packaging, especially for edible marijuana 
products that resemble candy.

Candy? Yes, in medical dispensaries, marijuana-infused fudge, gelato, 
and gummy and hard candies are just a few of the offerings. And 
remember, the pot used in a '70sera brownie was a lot less potent 
than today's, which in some samples has been found to have triple the 
THC, the psychoactive ingredient, compared with 50 years ago.

A University of Colorado study blamed the proliferation of these 
drug-laced edibles, combined with relaxed marijuana laws, for a surge 
in emergency room visits by children who had accidentally ingested marijuana.

"Before the marijuana boom, these kinds of edibles were not 
mass-produced and the amount of THC ingested was somewhat limited," 
said Dr. George Wang, lead study author, upon the report's release. 
"But now we are seeing much higher-strength marijuana."

Increased legalization also means easier access for adolescents. In a 
study of Colorado teens in substance-abuse treatment centers, for 
example, 74 percent said they had gotten marijuana from someone who 
qualified for it medically. Researchers call it diversion.

Legalization may also be encouraging more kids to consider trying 
marijuana. In a recent study of thousands of high school seniors, 10 
percent of nonusers said they would try marijuana if the drug were 
legal in their state. This included large subgroups of students 
normally at low risk, including non-cigarette-smokers, those with 
strong religious affiliations, and those with friends who disapprove 
of drugs. And of the students already using marijuana? Eighteen 
percent said they would use more under legalization.

Whatever is intended by legalization, children seem to be hearing 
this: Marijuana is no big deal. But especially for the young, nothing 
could be further from the truth.

Here's a review of marijuana's negative effects on developing brains 
and bodies:

Marijuana damages developing brains. Adolescence is a particularly 
vulnerable time for the brain, which continues developing well into 
the 20s. Marijuana can disrupt the process, meaning the brain may not 
form normally. At particular risk are chronic users. One study found 
that teens who smoked marijuana daily for about three years performed 
poorly on memory tasks - and this was two years after they had 
stopped use. Memory-related structures in the brain appeared to 
shrink and collapse inward, and the younger the smokers were when 
they began chronic use, the more abnormally the brain regions were shaped.

Marijuana is linked to mental health problems. The National Institute 
on Drug Abuse warns that there are now "sufficient data" to show that 
for those predisposed to schizophrenia, marijuana may trigger its 
onset and possibly intensify the symptoms. It has also been linked to 
increased depression and suicidal thoughts.

Marijuana sets up kids for failure. We give children one overriding 
task: to learn. Introducing a substance that slows reaction time, 
distorts judgment, and interferes with memory short-circuits that 
task. In addition, the younger kids are when they try marijuana, the 
more likely they are to become addicted (yes, marijuana can be 
addictive) and the more likely they are to go on to use other drugs. 
One analysis by Columbia University researchers found that teens who 
had used marijuana at least once in the previous 30 days were almost 
26 times more likely than those who never used marijuana to try other 
drugs such as cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines, LSD, or ecstasy.

It may be too late to stem the rush toward legalization of 
recreational marijuana use and the proliferation of products that 
comes with it. Instead, we need to focus on better ways to protect 
children, combat the notion that marijuana is harmless, and fund the 
muchneeded additional research on medical uses for marijuana's 
chemical components, such as the promising cannabidiol, which may 
prove effective without producing a high. Controlled scientific 
studies, after all, should be deciding marijuana's potential 
legitimacy as a medicine.

Legal or not, for the most vulnerable among us-our kids-marijuana is 
the opposite of no big deal.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom