NEW SURVEY PERSONALIZES MARIJUANA

There is a song that says, "Before you learn to fly, learn to fall."
However, it never says how we can start flying up rather than falling.

The key to success might be the ability to see yourself clearly.

Julie Barnes, coordinator of the University of Northern Iowa's
Substance Abuse Services program, wants to take this chance to
introduce a new service online for UNI students, E-Toke (electronic
THC Online Knowledge Experience), a brief survey on marijuana use.

It takes only 10 to 15 minutes to complete the survey, and
personalized feedback is given in the following areas: Dollar amount
and percentage of income spent on pot, how your use of pot compares
to other UNI students and to college students nationally, what
negative consequences your marijuana use might have, an assessment of
your readiness and ability to reduce usage, amount and frequency of
marijuana use, amount of time under the influence compared to time
spent studying, etc.

As a result, students can understand their marijuana usage and decide
for themselves whether or not they have an addiction problem.

E-Toke is used at more than 195 colleges across the country. It is
completely anonymous, free of charge, and people can access it
through the Internet. Simply go to www.uni.edu/subabuse and click the
photograph of the marijuana leaf.

Students don't have to provide their names. Even though some broader
demographic data will be collected, such as year in school and
gender, it only records "group data" and will not be used to any
further accesses.

For instance, Ms. Barnes can access statistics that summarize how
many women and men have completed the survey, and how often they are
smoking, on average. But, there is no attempt to identify who is
using the survey or what computers they have used to access E-Toke.

Julie Barnes explained the motivation behind the project, "I have
wanted for some time to offer expanded resources concerning marijuana
use. Although I work with lots of students who are required to see me
following an arrest or a student conduct code violation, I am also a
resource to students who haven't gotten into trouble but feel they
may be using alcohol or other drugs too often."

Substance Abuse Services is a safe place to talk candidly about
alcohol and drug use. It's completely confidential, so and parents,
school, or the government will not be notified when a student seeks
assistance. Their records are protected by Federal confidentiality
rules (42 CFR part 2). The records of identity, substance use
history, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment are confidential. No
record could be used to initiate or substantiate any criminal charges
against people who use this service or conduct any investigation of them.

This new service gets promoted because marijuana is the most popular
drug used in college. Far more young people use marijuana than any
other drug. This is because students believe marijuana is not
dangerous or not addictive. However, there are some facts students
should know. First, Marijuana is addictive. Each year, more young
adults enter drug treatment because they have a diagnosis of
marijuana dependency.

Regular users could experience withdrawal symptoms such as insomnia,
drug cravings, anger, irritability and aggression, even if they only
use the drug for three days. It does not matter what reason makes
people use marijuana or whether they are psychologically or
physically addicted to the drug. Also, addiction to marijuana is not
judged by how drug users feel about themselves.

The judgment will be made by doing the survey and see how E-Toke talks.

People know alcohol contributes to liver disease but they might not
know that marijuana smoking can result in oral cancers. People who
don't smoke realize that smoking cigarettes damages their lungs.
While marijuana is usually smoked unfiltered (in joints, blunts,
bongs and pipes) and smokers tend to drag deeper, their use of
marijuana is more damaging to the lungs. Smoking four joints is like
smoking an entire pack of cigarettes.

Marijuana is illegal for a reason. Depression, anxiety, and
personality disturbances are not only causes of marijuana use, but
also the result of marijuana use. Also, it makes people's existing
problems worse because they are losing skills related to attention,
memory and learning, which are important for them to deal with their
existing problems. Even occasional users may experience negative
consequences, such as lowered inhibitions and short-term memory problems.

Some people think that marijuana does not give a hangover. However,
marijuana "hangover" is the fog including problems with alertness,
coordination, depth perception (not good for driving), and a
distorted sense of time. We have never heard of anyone dying because
of marijuana overdose, but some people do end up using cocaine or
heroin because of their heavy use of marijuana. Also, approximately
six to 11 percent of fatal accident victims test positive about
marijuana use. A drug test can detect marijuana even months after
use. When random drug testing is on the rise in schools and
workplaces, it is not wise to use marijuana for any reason.

For the people who already realize they are addicted, E-Toke would be
of very little value. They could access help for their addiction by
contacting UNI's Substance Abuse Program, the same number as the
health clinic, without completing the survey. Ms. Barnes has a lot of
visitors visiting for different purposes and she is happy to help in
whatever way she can.

E-Toke is intended to help people understand whether or not they
might be addicted. Certainly, anyone engaging in illegal behavior is
going to have some anxiety about others finding out, but this survey
is designed for annonmity. More than 100 students have used the
survey in the two weeks its been available..

Britain's main opposition party leader David Cameron recently got
trouble about his marijuana use in the past. He might be an example
of a person who learns how to fall before he learns how to fly.
However, he was lucky. He was punished by the school at the age of 15
after he admitted smoking the drug while other people all went to the
jail. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton was well acknowledged when
he said that he had smoked marijuana, but said he had not inhaled.
That's fine because we know that he is not addicted to marijuana but
something else. The important thing is people know whether or not
they are addictive by doing E-Toke and stop doing illegal things.