Pubdate: Sun, 16 Nov 2014
Source: Register-Guard, The (OR)
Copyright: 2014 The Register-Guard
Contact: http://www.registerguard.com/web/opinion/#contribute-a-letter
Website: http://www.registerguard.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/362
Author: Todd Huffman
Note: Dr. Todd Huffman of Eugene is a pediatrician with McKenzie 
Pediatrics, P.C.

LEGAL POT WILL TAKE ITS TOLL AMONG TEENS

Let me begin by acknowledging that the sky will not fall next July 
once the adult recreational use of marijuana becomes legal in Oregon.

In fact, the new voter-approved law reforms criminal justice 
practices relating to marijuana possession, and it directs 25 percent 
of the revenue from the marijuana tax to drug education and 
treatment, and 40 percent of the revenue to public schools. These are 
welcome things, the cognitive dissonance of drug-built, drug-free 
schools notwithstanding.

But as Oregonians celebrate their coming summer high, we also must 
prepare for the after-party: the increasingly higher numbers of teens 
using and becoming addicted to marijuana.

Legalization means greater use among teens as their perception of 
risk drops. Legalization tells kids that "marijuana is not a big 
deal." Studies already have confirmed this phenomenon: Only 40 
percent of American teens now report perceiving "great risk" to 
smoking marijuana once or twice a week. Already on the rise, 
marijuana use among teens surely will accelerate with increasing 
societal normalization and glamorization.

Legalization also means greater access, leading more kids to use and 
hijacking their potential success in school and in life. As with 
alcohol, wider availability filters down to kids. Make no mistake, 
kids will enjoy greater access to marijuana through adult siblings, 
adult acquaintances, and through some parents' unsecured stockpiling 
of marijuana and THC-infused confections.

And for the truly determined teen user, there will remain the black 
market. It's naive to think that the black market simply will fade 
with legalization. Instead, with pot legal for adults, the black 
market likely will redirect its efforts to teens, where the damage of 
marijuana use is greater and more irreversible.

Proponents have argued that teens already have access to marijuana, 
saying, "They're going to get it anyway; just look at alcohol." Yes, 
let us indeed look at alcohol: It is advertised and glamorized, and 
its use and abuse is portrayed by the popular media as humorous and 
necessary for a good time. As a result, half of American teens claim 
to have used alcohol - and 1 in 4 admit to binge drinking - within 
the past month.

Oregonians must dispel themselves of any notion that marijuana is a 
harmless drug and rid themselves of the false comfort of marijuana 
being less harmful than alcohol. The argument is not between alcohol 
and marijuana. Teens aren't deciding between the two. Many more now 
will use both. And while the dangers of alcohol addiction and abuse 
are undeniable, the dangers of marijuana addiction and abuse widely are denied.

The scientific verdict is in: 1 in 6 U.S. kids who try marijuana will 
become addicted to it, and addiction happens far more quickly than in 
adults. Each year, more kids enter treatment for marijuana dependence 
than for all other drugs combined. Psychiatrists and youth-addiction 
clinics in Colorado this year report being inundated with young 
people reporting for marijuana-addiction treatment.

Also in Colorado, calls to poison--control centers and visits to 
emergency departments for marijuana-related physical and mental 
illness have skyrocketed. Kids (and some adults) are experiencing 
psychotic episodes as they binge on THC-laced cookies, candies, sodas 
and ice cream. Many baby boomers and others have a hard time 
understanding all that, but it's simply because today's marijuana can 
be so much more potent than the marijuana of yesteryear.

And then there are the significant adverse health, social, learning 
and behavioral changes marijuana use can lead to at a crucial time in 
a young person's development. Problems with memory, learning, 
thinking, problem solving, concentration and motivation all interfere 
with academic achievement and can impair intelligence. In other 
words, marijuana use shrinks not only the brain, but also the number 
of future opportunities.

Getting high also impairs judgment, which can lead to risky decision 
making on such issues as school attendance, sex, criminal activity, 
driving while impaired or riding with another impaired teen.

Finally, marijuana is unquestionably a gateway drug. Very few teens 
use other, more dangerous drugs without first using marijuana.

Oregon voters have spoken. This is not an indictment, but rather a 
warning, an ex-Boy Scout's caution to "be prepared."

All of us must now work even harder to prevent teens from using 
marijuana and alcohol. And we need to direct teens to treatment 
immediately when their use is discovered.

These aren't bad kids. They are our kids, and we must educate them 
and nurture them, guiding them non-judgmentally towards help and a 
healthier and brighter future.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom