Pubdate: Mon, 22 Jun 2015
Source: Tampa Bay Times (FL)
Copyright: 2015 St. Petersburg Times
Contact: http://www.sptimes.com/letters/
Website: http://www.tampabay.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/419
Note: Named the St. Petersburg Times from 1884-2011.
Page: A8

FACT AND FICTION ON MEDICAL POT

One of the key arguments used by opponents of legalizing medical 
marijuana in Florida should be put to rest. A study recently 
published in The Lancet Psychiatry concludes that medical marijuana 
laws do not increase use of marijuana by teenagers.

As the supporters of medical marijuana prepare for another campaign 
for a constitutional amendment, this important study should reduce 
the overheated rhetoric and ease some public concerns.

To be sure, heavy pot use can cause physical and psychological 
dangers in youths whose brains and personalities are still forming.

And the National Institute of Drug Abuse has long known that states 
with medical marijuana laws have higher rates of adolescent marijuana 
use than other states. The important question was why. The Lancet 
study, financed by NIDA and based on 23 years of surveys of 8th, 10th 
and 12th graders, found that states such as California, Colorado and 
Oregon had high marijuana usage by teens before passing medical 
marijuana laws. But after the laws went into effect, usage did not 
rise relative to other states. The findings 'suggest that the debate 
over the role of medical marijuana in adolescent marijuana use should 
cease," the authors state, and 'resources should be applied to 
identifying the factors that do affect risk." Those are strong words 
from researchers whose previous work has been wrongfully quoted by 
antipot activists as evidence that medical marijuana leads to higher teen use.

Trend lines of adolescent marijuana use go up and down, with little 
understanding of cause.

After medical marijuana systems came on line in the late 1990s, teen 
usage dropped steadily in all states.

Then smoking picked up in the mid 2000s, with medical marijuana 
critics contending that the rise was a delayed reaction to states 
legally acknowledging that marijuana has acceptable uses. That theory 
has grown increasingly untenable, though, because adolescent usage 
now appears to be declining again, even as more states pass medical 
marijuana systems.

The Lancet study, the most thorough of its kind, should put the issue to rest.

Within a few months, Florida will venture into a limited medical 
marijuana system when five growers can start selling a noneuphoric 
stain of cannabis to people with epilepsy, cancer and a few other ailments.

A proposed constitutional amendment that will likely go to voters 
next year would institute a much broader system - allowing use of all 
marijuana strains and expanding availability to people with chronic 
pain and other diagnoses.

Under either system the Department of Health should develop rules, 
such as requiring clear labeling on edible products that sometimes 
mimic sweets in other states, to protect children and young people 
from unintended repercussions. Dispensaries also should be required 
to maintain strict inventory control to avoid diversion to a black 
market that already makes marijuana readily accessible to adolescents.

State and local authorities should not become complacent about 
marijuana's potential for ruining young lives.

Education, counseling and rehabilitation programs should receive the 
attention and funding they deserve. As for medical marijuana, 
however, the Lancet study confirms that Florida should be able to 
find workable ways to bring relief to sick adults without endangering 
vulnerable adolescents.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom