Pubdate: Mon, 18 Aug 2014
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright: 2014 Globe Newspaper Company
Contact: http://services.bostonglobe.com/news/opeds/letter.aspx?id=6340
Website: http://bostonglobe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52
Author: Tara Parker-Pope, New York Times

LEGALIZATION BLURS MESSAGE TO TEENS ABOUT MARIJUANA

NEW YORK - When the antidrug educator Tim Ryan talks to students, he 
often asks them what they know about marijuana. "It's a plant," is a 
common response.

But more recently, the answer has changed. Now they reply, "It's 
legal in Colorado."

These are confusing times for middle and high school students, who 
have been lectured about the perils of substance abuse, particularly 
marijuana. Now it seems that the adults in their lives have done an about-face.

Recreational marijuana is legal in Colorado and in Washington state, 
and Massachusetts and other states have approved it for medical use. 
And many are debating the merits of full-scale legalization.

"They are growing up in a generation where marijuana used to be bad, 
and maybe now it's not bad," said Ryan, a senior prevention 
specialist with FCD Educational Services, a group that works with 
students in the classroom. "Their parents are telling them not to do 
it, but they may be supporting legalization of it at the same time."

Antidrug advocates say efforts to legalize marijuana have created new 
challenges as they work to educate teenagers and their parents about 
the unique risks that alcohol, marijuana, and other substances pose 
to the developing teenage brain.

These educators say their goal is not to vilify marijuana or take a 
stand on legalization. They say their role is to convince young 
people and their parents that the use of drugs is not just a moral or 
legal issue but a significant health issue.

"The health risks are real," said Steve Pasierb, chief executive of 
the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids. "Every passing year, science 
unearths more health risks about why any form of substance use is 
unhealthy for young people."

Nearly half of teenagers - 44 percent - have tried marijuana at least 
once, according to data from the partnership. Regular use is less 
common. One in four teenagers report using marijuana in the past 
month, and 7 percent report frequent use - at least 20 times in the past month.

Even in the states where marijuana is legal, it remains, like 
alcohol, off-limits to anyone younger than 21. But the reality is 
that once a product becomes legal, it can become easier for underage 
users to obtain it.

This summer, the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids released its annual 
tracking study, in which young people were asked what stopped them 
from trying drugs. Getting into trouble with the law and 
disappointing their parents were cited as the two most common reason 
young people did not use marijuana. The concern now is legalization 
will remove an important mental barrier that keeps adolescents from 
trying the drug at a young age.

Drug prevention experts say the "Just Say No" approach of the 1980s 
does not work. The goal of parents should not be to prevent their 
kids from ever trying marijuana. Instead, the focus should be on 
practical reasons to delay use of any mind-altering substance, 
including alcohol, until they are older.

The reason is that young brains continue to develop until the early 
20s, and those who start using alcohol or marijuana in their teens 
are far more vulnerable to long-term substance-abuse problems, among 
other difficulties.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom