Pubdate: Wed, 02 Jul 2014
Source: Palm Beach Post, The (FL)
Copyright: 2014 The Palm Beach Post
Contact:  http://www.palmbeachpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/333
Author: David Sack, Los Angeles Times
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. He wrote this for the Los Angeles Times.
Page: A9

RUSH TO LEGALIZE POT IGNORES VULNERABLE KIDS

In states where medical and recreational cannabis sales are allowed, 
disquieting new trends and statistics are proving the 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 critical-care 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, 
gummy candies and hard candies are just a few of the offerings. And 
remember, the pot used in a 1970s-era brownie was a lot less potent 
than today's pot, which in some samples has been found to have triple 
the amount of THC, its psychoactive ingredient.

A University of Colorado study blamed the proliferation of these 
druglaced 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, 74 
percent said they had gotten marijuana from someone who qualified for 
it medically. Researchers call it diversion.

Legalization also may 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. 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 children:

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.

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

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 
much-needed 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