Pubdate: Mon, 06 Oct 2014
Source: Wall Street Journal (US)
Copyright: 2014 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.wsj.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/487
Author: Dan Frosch

COLORADO 'LAB RAT' CAMPAIGN WARNS TEENS OF POT USE

Use of Cages Has Been Criticized by the State's Legal Marijuana 
Industry; Mocked by Some Young People

DENVER-In a state where legal marijuana seemingly is everywhere, 
Colorado public health officials have taken an unusual approach to 
warning teenagers about the dangers of the drug: likening young pot 
smokers to laboratory animals. Concerned about a potential jump in 
youth marijuana use now that the state has legalized the drug for 
adults, Colorado is displaying three human-size cages in various 
communities with signs that bear provocative messages about the 
drug's pitfalls, as part of its "Don't Be A Lab Rat" campaign. "Does 
Marijuana really cause schizophrenia in teenagers? Smoke and find 
out," one sign says. "Subjects needed. Must be a teenager. Must smoke 
weed. Must have 8 IQ points to spare," reads another.

But the public-awareness campaign, which was launched in August and 
includes television commercials, may not be having the impact the 
state intended. The cages, which were first set up in Denver, have 
been criticized by Colorado's legal pot industry and mocked by some 
young people, who have dismissed it as a scare tactic.

U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, a Democrat from Boulder, even took issue with 
the cages, telling the Denver Post he thought the campaign was 
"bizarre." "It's reefer madness all over again. Kids are smarter than 
this," said Wanda James, a local marijuana activist, who was part of 
the state task force that helped implement Colorado's new regulations 
for the drug. Ms. James was referencing the 1930s propaganda film 
that famously exaggerated the dangers of marijuana.

Colorado became the first state in the country to allow the sale of 
pot for purely recreational use in January, after voters in 2012 
passed a ballot measure to legalize it for those 21 and over. 
Washington, the only other state to legalize recreational marijuana, 
launched its pot industry in July. Larry Wolk, chief medical officer 
and executive director of the Colorado Department of Public Health 
and Environment, said the campaign was intended to start a 
conversation about marijuana use by young people and convey the 
message that the drug can be harmful. State health officials said 
they were concerned by studies showing that pot can lead to 
depression and impair cognitive functioning.

"Whether you hate it or love it, or are somewhere in between, at 
least you have people talking about it," said Dr. Wolk of the 
campaign, which was funded with nearly $2 million in grants from the 
state attorney general's office, foundations and additional money 
from the city and county of Denver. In addition to the lab-rat 
campaign, the state legislature has allocated $5.68 million from 
marijuana sales taxes this fiscal year for the department to engage 
in a more sweeping prevention and education effort. Mike Sukle, whose 
Denver advertising agency designed the lab-rat campaign, said it is a 
"monumental task" to get young people to avoid marijuana, given the 
excitement over legalization.

His firm conducted focus groups with young Coloradans, in an effort 
to figure out what messages would resonate. They settled on the 
8-by-12-foot cages, which stand about 9 feet tall and have a giant 
water bottle fashioned to them. "If we had launched a campaign and 
didn't get any reaction to it, we wouldn't have been doing our jobs," 
he said, noting that the plan is to move the cages around Colorado. 
One cage is scheduled to be set up in Grand Junction on Monday.

At least one city doesn't want them. Boulder officials declined an 
offer from the state to erect a cage, saying that while the city 
supported marijuana education, community members didn't think the 
structures were the appropriate way to communicate that message. The 
city's school district also said it wasn't interested.

"There is some communication in the campaign about possible medical 
effects, and the reality is that there is a lot of research to be 
done," said Bruce Messinger, Boulder Valley School District 
superintendent. "We like to deal with what we know to be true."

At a skate park near downtown Denver, where the smell of marijuana 
hung in the air recently, young pot smokers laughed when discussing 
one of the cages that had until recently stood on the corner.

"They're pretty wack," said Colt Holiman, 27 years old, saying he and 
other young people who frequented the park took issue with the 
warnings about detrimental health effects. "But that water bottle on 
the cage? That would be awesome to have."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom