THE MORE WICKED WEED

The drug of choice among children in Iowa isn't what most parents
might expect, or even fear.

It isn't alcohol. Methamphetamine? Not even close.

Marijuana - more than all other drugs combined, including alcohol -
is what juveniles want most. It is the state's No. 1 illicit drug
problem among people of all ages, and is catching on among children
as young as 11. Yet parents, many of whom think back to their own
days of "casual" marijuana use, tend to be less concerned about their
child's experimentation with a joint than a drink.

They shouldn't be, medical and law enforcement authorities say.

This is not your parents' pot. Today's marijuana is at least 10 times
more potent than it was in the 1970s, according to Iowa's crime lab officials.

The result is a stronger, longer-lasting high whose effects reach far
beyond the so-called munchies and drowsiness caused by marijuana
available decades ago. Today's pot can leave users in a stupor for
hours, slurring their speech and precariously limiting certain body
movements. Young users interviewed for this story said even one hit
from a joint can have immobilizing effects.

"You don't get all goofy and laugh at stuff or mess around," a
16-year-old from Marion County said. "You just sit there. You can
look around and no one's talking, no one's moving. It can knock you
on your ass."

The reason: tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the main active chemical in
marijuana. Under a microscope, it glistens on marijuana leaves like
tiny crystal balls. More crystals mean stronger pot. At the Division
of Criminal Investigation's crime lab in Ankeny, some magnified
samples of marijuana resemble sparkling pieces of quartz more than a
plant leaf.

"I've never seen this kind of potency before," said Sandy Stoltenow,
a crime lab supervisor who has studied marijuana in Iowa since the
1970s. "What's out there today is definitely not the same as what
your father smoked. This is a whole new game."

About 30 years ago, the level of THC commonly found in marijuana
hovered around 2 percent, Stoltenow said. Today, thanks to more
sophisticated growing techniques and elaborate greenhouses, marijuana
is routinely found to have THC levels of 24 percent.

Authorities say even higher levels of more than 30 percent have been
found in some of the marijuana they've seized - forcing them to take
another look at a drug that for years they had considered less of a
problem than other, seemingly more dangerous ones.

"Methamphetamine may be more addictive than marijuana, but we can't
close our eyes to it anymore," said Marvin Van Haaften, the state's
drug czar. "The purity of marijuana is skyrocketing. It is extremely
potent. I don't think most people, especially parents, fully
understand this. I don't think they fully understand what's out there
and the threat it poses and what it can do."

Dad can't say anything.

I know he smoked it. Sara Lee, a juvenile substance abuse counselor
in Story and Polk counties, knows exactly what marijuana can do.

She has seen teenagers lose scholarships, drop out of school and
attempt suicide because of the drug. She has seen parents deny their
child's marijuana problem until a court orders drug treatment. She
has seen desperate parents turn their child in to police. She has
seen anger. Lots of it.

"Once your kid has a drug problem, nothing's easy anymore," Lee said.
"Everything becomes a battle. In some ways, marijuana is worse
because kids think, 'My dad can't say anything to me because I know
he smoked it when he was young.' I've seen it a million times. I have
to stop them and say: 'Your dad didn't smoke the kind of marijuana
you're smoking.' It's scary."

Kristina Gilbert had no idea her son, now a senior in high school,
was feeding a marijuana habit two years ago when she found the
remains of a joint in his shirt pocket while doing laundry one day.

A single mother of two teenagers, the former West Des Moines woman
said she did what she thought any responsible parent would: She sat
down her son and had "the drug talk." His answers seemed honest to
her at the time, she said. She let it go.

Six months later, her son, an honors student and athlete on track for
a full scholarship, was arrested for possession of marijuana. Gilbert
said it was only then that she learned her son had a serious problem
and that he had begun using other drugs, including speed. She put him
in drug counseling and moved her family to another county. Her son,
whom she did not want identified and who has a different last name,
is now drug-free and is "getting his life back," Gilbert said.

"It happened so fast," she said. "I have really good kids, and I
considered myself a good, attentive mom who knew what was going on. I
knew nothing. I kick myself for being so stupid."

Last year, 23 percent of Iowans of all ages being treated for
substance abuse reported marijuana as their primary drug of choice,
compared with 15 percent who were addicted to meth. Alcohol addiction
topped the list, at nearly 56 percent.

But among Iowa's juveniles, marijuana is the No. 1 drug of choice,
with 52 percent of those seeking treatment citing marijuana abuse as
their biggest problem. About 40 percent of the juvenile clients put
alcohol at the top of their list, according to Iowa's Drug Control
Strategy report.

"What worries me most is they're using at a younger and younger age,"
said Ken Cheyne, director of pediatric education at Blank Children's
Hospital in Des Moines. "We've seen sixth-graders, 11-year-olds, who
are smoking marijuana. It's alarming. It's more prevalent than it ever was."

Drug counselors say perceptions about marijuana, especially among
parents, make matters worse. Because many parents smoked marijuana
themselves at one time, they either downplay their children's
experimentation with the drug or avoid the issue altogether for fear
of being hypocritical.

The problem, said drug prevention specialist David Wright, is that
parents don't realize what their kids are up against with today's marijuana.

"I see many parents who still view this as a rite of passage, like
they know their kid is going to experiment with pot just like they'll
experiment with cigarettes," said Wright, who works with the Ankeny
Substance Abuse Project. "I'm telling you, it's absolutely not OK to
think like that anymore. I'm pretty sure most of these parents would
be shocked if they sampled some of the pot that's out there right now."

Teenage and adult marijuana users interviewed in three counties
described similar experiences with the drug. The marijuana for sale
in Iowa varies in price based on quality, with "commercial-grade"
bags of pot available for as little as $20 for an eighth of an ounce.

The same amount of more potent forms of marijuana, with such names as
"kind bud" or "BC Bud" (a reference to its supposed place of origin,
the Canadian province of British Columbia), sells for $50 or more.

"With BC Bud, I can take a hit, put the thing out and save it for
later," said Terry Mitchell, a 53-year-old Dexter man who says he
uses marijuana to ease back pain from degenerative disc disease.
"With regular bud, it takes three or four hits, sometimes half a
joint, to get the same result."

In Marion County, a group of three teenage friends said they like to
pool their money to buy an ounce of "the better stuff" for $400. They
said they smoke it together after school, usually in the garage of a
boy's home whose parents are still at work. Lately they have taken to
experimenting with "blunts" - hollowed-out cigars stuffed with
marijuana. The hit from those, they said, is more powerful than a
regular joint's, and they can stay high for up to three hours or more.

"It goes a long way," said one of the boys, whose older brother
introduced him to marijuana when he was 14. "It doesn't take much."

It's stories like that, concerning younger marijuana users, that
trouble Dr. Dennis Weis, medical director of the Powell Chemical
Dependency Center. He said only a small percent of his patients - all
of whom are adults - are being treated strictly for marijuana abuse,
although nearly all smoke the drug at least "episodically."

But Weis said he is more concerned about how stronger marijuana will
effect younger users. Treatment for marijuana abuse may not require
detox, he said, but even the mildest form of the drug can produce a
psychological dependence.

"When I think of the naive user who doesn't have a chemical
dependency problem experimenting with a form of marijuana that has
such high levels of THC," Weis said, "I see trouble."

Cheyne, the Blank doctor, said THC can also cripple a young person's
development. He has seen young users who have such poor interpersonal
coping skills that they are unable to handle simple social issues
such as asking a girl on a date or carrying on a conversation at a party.

"People who use marijuana aren't fully engaged," Cheyne said. "It's a
motivational thing. They're not looking ahead, they're not living
life at the regular speed. Marijuana affects a lot of things,
learning included. I've found if you smoke marijuana, you don't
really learn how to deal with issues you have to to become an adult."

It's not the throw-away funny drug anymore. Iowa law enforcement
officials seized nearly $10 million worth of marijuana last year.
Packaged in tubes and stuffed in tires, or wrapped in blocks the size
of a television set, the seized pot ends up at the state's crime lab
in Ankeny. There, it is weighed and tested and sealed back up for
court. Of all the 650 drug cases waiting at the lab now, 40 percent
are for marijuana.

Orville Berbano, a criminalist at the lab, has handled so much of the
stuff that he can pick out the more potent forms without a
microscope. While recently examining an 18-pound slab of marijuana
that was packed together so tightly it required a tool to break up,
Berbano picks out a small bunch and squeezes it between his thumb and
forefinger. It is green and especially pungent, sticky and dense -
telltale signs of a higher level of THC.

"There's such a wide range" in potency, he said. "You really don't
know what you're getting" when someone buys it on the street.

Officials said methamphetamine steals more headlines in Iowa, and
they agree that it is more addictive and dangerous than marijuana.
But they also said marijuana continues to be the most-used illicit
drug in Iowa, and the purer it becomes, the more habit-forming it can be.

"On the one hand, you know that meth is more of a problem than
marijuana," said Dale Woolery, an associate director of the
Governor's Office of Drug Control Policy. "But then you have far, far
more people using marijuana. They could become the next generation of
meth users."

Ankeny Police Chief Gary Mikulec said parents can no longer hide
behind the perception that marijuana is a fairly harmless drug.

"You do not want your kid messing around with this stuff," Mikulec
said. "It's not the funny throw-away drug anymore. If you think it
is, you are wrong. And you can't afford to be wrong with this."

Iowa law enforcement authorities say that while more potent forms of
marijuana have become a growing concern, methamphetamine continues to
dominate their investigations. Yet that is precisely where much of
the marijuana seized in Iowa is found: during meth raids or at
clandestine labs around the state.

Authorities stumble upon most of the rest, usually along Iowa's
highways. Last year the Iowa State Patrol seized nearly 3,500 pounds
of marijuana with an estimated street value of $7.5 million. During a
routine traffic stop for speeding last month near Atlantic, troopers
seized 210 pounds of the drug.

Jim Saunders, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Public Safety,
said the drug is trucked to Iowa from places both known and nameless.
Though elaborately packaged in everything from tires to door panels,
it rarely escapes the nose of a drug dog, he said.

"It's been the assumption in the general public that marijuana isn't
much of a problem because we hear so much about meth," Saunders said.
"But it's still out there. We've got truckloads at any given time to prove it."

Officials with the Division of Narcotics Enforcement, who investigate
mid-to upper-level drug trafficking in Iowa, shut down 66 outdoor
marijuana grow operations last year. In 2004, they handled 23.

"Marijuana cases do come up for us, and we may be seeing a few more
lately," said Sean McCullough, the division's special agent in
charge. "But for our agency, most of our cases still involve meth."

Still, some city police departments have stepped up their
drug-resistance programs to emphasize more the dangers of marijuana
and alcohol. In Ankeny, officer Heather Kline works at the high
school and both middle schools, where she said perceptions about the
drug vary widely.

"Students who are using think everybody's using, and that it's OK,"
she said. "Different parents consider different levels of use to be
OK, too. I don't think anybody really realizes the true scope of the problem."

Kline's observations are in line with recent studies by the National
Institute on Drug Abuse that found the number of people who view
marijuana as being harmful has decreased-just as the number of users
has gone up.

A survey of high school seniors in 2003, for example, showed that
current marijuana use has increased by about 54 percent since 1991.
The proportion of those seniors who consider regular use of marijuana
to be harmful has dropped by 30 percent.

"All we can do is talk," Kline said. "We have to keep talking, and
hope that somewhere along the line some of it sinks in."

[Sidebar]

Effects Of THC On The Body

The amount of THC in marijuana determines the drug's strength. Its
short-term effects wear off with a few hours, but the drug can be
detected in urine tests up to three days after use and traces of THC
may be picked up in blood tests up to four weeks after use.

Short-Term Effects

Brain And Nervous System THC causes the brain to release dopamine,
producing a feeling of euphoria. Sounds and colors may seem more
intense. Time appears to pass more slowly. Parts of brain
responsible for thirst and hunger are stimulated. Euphoria
subsides, leaving user sleepy or depressed, sometimes fearful or
anxious. Short-term memory, coordination and problem solving are affected.

Circulatory And Respiratory System Effects of smoking are generally
felt within a few minutes and peak in 10 to 30 minutes. Heart rate
increases sharply. Bronchial passages relax and become enlarged.
Blood vessels in the eyes expand, making them look bloodshot. Mouth
and throat become dry.

Long-Term Effects

Brain And Nervous System Chronic use may hasten the age-related
loss of neurons in the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible
for memory formation. Ability to learn and shift attention from one
thing to another is impaired.

Circulatory And Respiratory System Persistent use damages lungs and
airways, making smokers susceptible to bronchitis, emphysema and
bronchial asthma One marijuana joint contains the same amount of
cancer-causing chemicals as five cigarettes.

Reproductive System Regular use can delay the onset of puberty in
young men and reduce sperm production. Regular use by women can
disrupt monthly mentrual cycles and inhibit ovulation. Pregnant
users run the increased risk of babies with low birth weight, health
problems and developmental delays.

Sources: National Institute on Drug Abuse, Department of Justice,
Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement

[Sidebar 2]

Weed Loaded With Fast-Working Chemicals

Marijuana plants contain hundreds of chemicals, about 60 of which fit
into a category called cannabinoids. Tetrahydrocannabinol, THC, is
the chemical most associated with marijuana's effects on the brain.

Once smoked, THC and other chemicals enter the bloodstream and go to
work almost immediately. Besides an initial reaction of relaxation or
light-headedness, the user's eyes may dilate or become bloodshot.
Later, feelings of paranoia or panic may be felt. More potent
marijuana can cause hallucinations. The brain responds to THC in
various ways, but short-term memory loss, a lack of coordination and
distorted perceptions are among the most common effects.

Persistent marijuana users are susceptible to the same health
problems as tobacco smokers, including bronchitis, emphysema and
bronchial asthma. Long-term use can increase the risk of damaging the
lungs and reproductive organs.

Groups advocating legalization of marijuana or its use for medicinal
purposes say it is known to help cancer and AIDS patients and relieve
pain associated with various other ailments. Eleven states allow
marijuana to be grown and used for medical purposes; Iowa does not.

Pot's short-term effects wear off within a few hours, but THC can be
detected in urine tests up to three days after use. It accumulates in
the tissues of the liver, lungs and other organs, so traces of THC
can show up in some blood tests two to four weeks after use.

Dr. Dennis Weis, medical director of the Powell Chemical Dependency
Center, said while marijuana use typically isn't associated with
violence, it can cause depression. Regular users who stop smoking pot
can become irritable, anxious or angry, he said.

"I don't believe they have a physiological addiction," Weis said of
marijuana users. "But it does produce a psychological dependence.

[Sidebar 3]

Tips To Help Parents Talk To Kids About Pot

TALK ABOUT IT: Drug treatment experts say parents should have pointed
discussions with their children about marijuana, beginning in
elementary school. Regular reminders and ongoing talks about drugs
should continue throughout the child's middle school and high school
years, even if parents think they've said all they need to say.

LOOK FOR SIGNS: Drug prevention specialist David Wright and other
experts encourage parents to be on the lookout for signs of drug use.
Even a cigarette could be a red flag, they said, because children
often experiment first with tobacco, then alcohol, followed by
marijuana. "Some kids manage to get through that experimentation with
no lasting problems," Wright said. "But others don't, and there's no
way of knowing ahead of time which group your kid will fall in."

Warning signs your child is using marijuana

A change in the group of friends a child hangs out with. The child
becomes more secretive or isolated. Mood changes, such as
irritability, "laziness" or being unmotivated to participate in
favorite activities. An increase in patterns of staying out late or
sleeping at odd hours or for long durations of time. Displays
symptoms of depression or hostility. Begins to show a carelessness in
grooming. A change in academic performance.

What to do if your child is using marijuana

Schedule an appointment with a substance abuse counselor immediately,
for a third-party assessment of the problem as well as the
parent-child relationship. Be open to the counselor's suggestions; a
recovery and counseling program explores family issues, including
what got the child where he or she is today. Help the child to
understand that counseling is intended to re-establish contact, firm
up guidelines and build trust. Be prepared to stand behind boundaries
and expectations for the child if he or she resists counseling or
denies the drug problem. Depending on the situation, consider buying
at-home urinalysis tests or reporting the child to police.

Where to get more help

Ankeny Substance Abuse Project (ASAP): (515) 964-4357
Youth and Shelter Services in Ames: (515) 233-3141
Cornerstone Recovery Center in Ankeny: (515) 289-2272
First Step Mercy Recovery Center in Des Moines: (515) 271-6075
Powell Chemical Dependency Center at Iowa Lutheran Hospital: (515) 263-2424

Learn more on the Web

For information on Cornerstone Recovery, visit www.cfiowa.org.

For information on Employee & Family Resources, visit www.efr.org.

For information on substance abuse, visit www.drugfreeinfo.org.

Pot References, Definitions

Acapulco Gold: A highly potent form of marijuana, said to grow in the
Acapulco region of Mexico.
AK-47: Marijuana with a THC content of at least 20 percent.
Amped-out: Fatigue after using marijuana.
BC Bud: Highly potent form of marijuana from British Columbia.
Blunt: A hollowed-out cigar stuffed with marijuana.
Brick: A block of marijuana, compressed and packaged; usually a
kilogram in weight.
Bud: Usually refers to commercial-grade pot.
Can: Slightly more than an ounce of marijuana.
Dynamite: An exceptionally powerful form of marijuana.
Key: A kilogram of marijuana.
Kind Bud: Any highly potent form of marijuana.
Lid: Slightly more than an ounce of marijuana (West Coast term).
Manicure: To take the twigs, stems and seeds out of bulk marijuana to
prepare it for smoking.
Mgobi: (pronounced "Ma-Go-Bee"). A big and well-rolled joint.
Panama Red: A powerful form of marijuana from Panama.
Weight: A large quantity of marijuana, often used for selling
purposes: "I'm looking to cop weight."
Yard: $100.

Source: U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Iowa law enforcement,
marijuana users.