Pubdate: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 Source: Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ) Copyright: 2014 The Arizona Republic Contact: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/sendaletter.html Website: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/24 DENY RESPECTABILITY TO POT Alcohol, Tobacco Use Falls, but Teens See Marijuana As Gaining Social Acceptance First, the good news. Drug and alcohol use among Arizona teens continues to drop, according to a biennial survey. Those teens are also smoking less - tobacco, anyway. The more than 48,000 eighth-, 10th- and 12thgraders who took the survey reported they're more likely to use marijuana than to smoke a cigarette. To explain, let's look at the numbers in the survey conducted by the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission. (Find the full survey at azcjc.gov.) Alcohol remains the most popular mood-altering substance among teens, but the survey reflects a downward trend. Four years ago, nearly 22 percent of eighth-graders reported having had a drink in the past month; this year, it was 13.4 percent. The percentages are dropping even among high-school seniors, to 40.6 percent this year from 45 percent four years ago. Messages about how alcohol affects young brains appear to be making headway. So are anti-smoking messages. The downward trend is steeper - a drop of about one-third in four years for every age group. Now, the bad news: Marijuana is resisting the downward trend. Its use dropped slightly among eighth-graders, remained flat among high-school sophomores and rose for seniors. (Nearly one in four seniors reported using pot within the past month, and almost half have tried it at least once.) This is significant as advocates gear up to put legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes on the 2016 ballot. If teens continue to use pot when it's legal. Alcohol remains the most popular drug among teens, but its use is dropping. The same can't be said for marijuana, which is boosted by misguided campaigns to legalize it. gal in Arizona only for medical purposes, what will happen if it becomes fully legal? Set aside for now the argument as to whether marijuana is dangerous or a gateway to harder drugs. There is no question pot, like alcohol, damages a developing brain. Both stand in the way of youthful potential. In extreme cases, they derail a life before it really begins. Messages warning teens off of cigarettes, alcohol and drugs are everywhere. This survey indicates they're having an effect. In addition to alcohol and tobacco, the abuse of prescription drugs and bath salts fell significantly over four years. They're just not cool anymore. But the messaging around marijuana is different. It's now a healer, treating symptoms real and created. While three in four teens who use pot get it from a friend, a rising percentage get it from someone with a medical-marijuana card. In Colorado and Washington, marijuana has moved into the mainstream, just as legal as a bottle of Cabernet. Why would kids turn away from something gaining such public acceptance? We could launch another public-interest campaign aimed at getting teens to abstain from pot. But it makes more sense to just turn away from this misguided campaign to give respectability to a drug banned for good reason to begin with. This year, we can celebrate the good news that fewer high-schoolers are drinking. But that's against a bigger context in which two-thirds of seniors have had a drink at some point. That's a big number. Expect the same if recreational marijuana becomes legal. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom