Copyright: 2005 Southam Inc.
Contact: letters@nationalpost.com
Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/286
Author: Jack Aubry, CanWest News Service
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

TEENS SEE MARIJUANA AS LESS HARMFUL THAN CIGARETTES

Federal Report Finds Lack Of Information On The Health Consequences

OTTAWA -- Canadian teenagers say it's easier to get marijuana than
cigarettes on school grounds -- and they think it's less harmful, according
to a new federal report.

Based on focus groups across the country, the report said teens feel pot is
less harmful because they've heard many more health warnings about
cigarettes and second-hand smoke.

"Participants generally felt that the only exposure they had received on
issues dealing with marijuana were communications on the legalization of
the substance or the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes," the report said.

The teens also thought legal age restrictions for buying cigarettes -- and
the fact they must be bought at stores -- make marijuana more accessible.

The report was prepared for Health Canada's bid to help teens develop
coping and refusal skills. It is being released as the federal government
moves to decriminalize marijuana.

A poll released in November found Canadians are smoking more marijuana than
ever before and that almost 30% of 15- to 17-year-olds and 47% of 18- and
19-year-olds had used marijuana in the past year.

Prepared by Millward Brown Goldfarb, the report is based on research from
16 focus groups last year in Toronto, Montreal, Regina and Halifax. The
groups were divided into three age categories -- 10-12, 13-15 and 16-19.

Paul Dufresne, a spokesman for Health Canada, said the department is
following the $56,000 report's recommendation to create separate messages
regarding smoking tobacco and marijuana "because teens perceive them as two
different things.

"Having separate messages would, in participants' minds, ensure that the
key messages being communicated would not be missed or ignored," the report
said.