MORE TELEVISION CHARACTERS ARE GOING TO POT

Is Hollywood going one toke over the line? Marijuana use is cropping up on
some critically acclaimed shows, and anti-drug forces fear the
glamorization of pot could boost its use among youths.

Who's lighting up:

* Pot is an ongoing theme on HBO's Entourage (Sundays, 10 ET/PT), which
centers on a rising young movie star and his New York buddies who have gone
Hollywood. Sunday's episode features two teens getting high at a bat mitzvah.

* Streetwise Maurice "Smoke" Williams (Kirk Jones) lit up on last week's
premiere of Over There (Wednesdays, 10 ET/PT), FX's gritty Iraq war drama.

* Marijuana is the core premise of Showtime dramedy Weeds (Mondays, 10
ET/PT), a dark version of Desperate Housewives suburbia with Mary-Louise
Parker as a pot-dealing soccer mom. In Sunday's special preview, a teen
sells pot to grade-schoolers until Parker's character blackmails him to stop.

Recurring or episodic pot themes also have fueled HBO's Curb Your
Enthusiasm, FX's Rescue Me and Fox's That' 70s Show.

Hollywood's embellishment of marijuana use is "irresponsible," says Tom
Riley of the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Shows that tacitly approve of pot-smoking, particularly comedies, may
exacerbate its use, says Steve Dnistrian of the Partnership for a Drug-Free
America. "These are trendsetting shows. They affect behavior and attitudes,
particularly teens. When glamorization of drugs has climbed, changes in
teen attitudes followed."

HBO declined comment. But actor Jerry Ferrara, Entourage's pot-loving
Turtle, says it's the drug of choice among twentysomethings. "The show
doesn't condone it, but there's definitely a lot of accuracy in how it's
used," he says.

Over There co-creator and executive producer Chris Gerolmo says the show's
depiction of pot use is not an endorsement. Still, Gerolmo says "drug use
is certainly part of life in the Army."

Weeds creator and executive producer Jenji Kohan says the series won't
advocate drug use and doubts it will influence marijuana consumption.
"We're presenting this as something that's everywhere and cuts across
political, ethnic and religious lines."

Kevin Nealon, who co-stars in Weeds, says the show simply underscores pot's
prevalence in society. "A lot of baby boomers are baby bongers," he says.

A 2003 study - the government's latest on drug use - found that 14.6
million Americans used pot at least once in the past month, up slightly
from 2002. And more than 95 million have tried it.

"With so many having tried marijuana, it would be bizarre not to expect
that reality wouldn't be depicted in films and on TV," says Bruce Mirken of
the Marijuana Policy Project, the USA's largest pot-policy-reform group.