SCHOOL LAUNCHES MARIJUANA INITIATIVE

It Is The School's First Program Aimed At Students Who Have Tried Or
Actively Use Marijuana.

BARRINGTON -- Kathleen Sullivan recalled what some high school
students here said: that smoking pot doesn't impair driving, that
there aren't the risks associated with alcohol.

For the first time, the high school will offer this year a voluntary,
confidential group for students, generally who have tried or actively
use marijuana, to provide information and scientific data about its
health effects and dangers. It will also aim to offer ways for
someone to effectively refuse marijuana if it is offered in a
real-life situation.

Sullivan, the town's Substance Abuse Task Force coordinator, and
Joanne Royley, the high school student assistance counselor, will
coordinate the program, which will use aspects of a curriculum from
the U.S. Department of Health called "Cannabis Youth Treatment
Series." Royley said the plan was to offer a six-week session and
perhaps an additional session, depending on interest. The plan is to
meet once a week.

Both Sullivan and Royley stressed that meetings would be
confidential. Royley said that a date for the first meeting had not
yet been scheduled, but she said she might get the word out next week
about the opportunity.

Royley and Sullivan said they had talked for some time about offering
the group. They added that their decision to do so was not prompted
by any indication locally or nationally that marijuana use has
changed, or that its use is greater or lesser than in other communities.

Indeed, Royley said that as student assistance counselor she already
offers group counseling that can help on a range of issues, such as
students who are coping with grief and children of alcoholics. Royley
also provides individual counseling, under a school district policy,
for any student who has been found with marijuana and is referred to her.

But the group's offering information on marijuana's risks is not
going to be a mandatory situation.

"We have observed a lot of attitudes that are unsafe, that perhaps it
is safe to drive with somebody who's under the influence of
marijuana. So it's trying to change some of those views," Sullivan
said. "Trying to challenge myths but also give young people the right
information."

Royley said her sense was that there had been a great amount of media
coverage looking at drinking and driving and that other changes, such
as reducing cigarette smoking and wearing seat belts, have been
widely accepted.

Sullivan said that some students' responses about marijuana at a high
school health class she attended suggested anecdotally that it is not
seen as being as dangerous as drinking heavily. She cautioned that
that is not based on any formal statistical analysis.

"Anecdotally, it was consistent," she said: "The kids got the message
that if somebody is driving and under the influence of alcohol, you
don't get in the car.... But if you know your friend has been smoking
pot," it is different.

But Sullivan said smoking marijuana can reduce a person's response
time, such as while driving. It can change a person's depth
perception, so that something might be closer than it actually seems.
It can also heighten paranoia, she said.

The "Cannabis Youth Treatment Series" curriculum offers a wide range
of things, but the Barrington program will probably not use every
application. Royley said she expected the Barrington program would
include "refusal skills," which can include role-playing scenarios
that young people sometimes face. Another topic is how to cope with
"unanticipated high-risk situations and relapses," according to the
curriculum, which is available on the U.S. Department of Health Web
site: health.org/govpubs/bkd384/