POT EASIER TO GET AT SCHOOL THAN TOBACCO, TEENS SAY

Marijuana perceived as less harmful; Success of federal anti-smoking
campaigns partly responsible, focus groups suggest

Pot is perceived as easier to access than cigarettes on Canadian school
grounds, a newly released government shows.

The report, prepared for Health Canada's effort to develop coping and
refusal skills among teens, said the easier access to marijuana is
ironically due to the legal age limit for smoking cigarettes and the fact
you have to buy them through traditional outlets, such as corner stores.

Based on focus groups held across the country, it concludes that marijuana
is perceived by Canadian teens as less harmful to those who use it, compared
with cigarettes, because of the effective messages that participants have
been exposed to on the health effects of 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.

It said the teens in the focus groups had a genuine sense that those who
smoke marijuana do not know the adverse effects of the substance "aside from
killing brain cells or making 'users' lazy" and do not understand the health
reasons why they should stop smoking it.

The report is being released as the federal government promises action on a
bill before the House of Commons that would decriminalize pot, as well as a
companion bill to stop people from driving while on drugs.

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

Prepared by Millward Brown Goldfarb, the report is based on 16 focus groups
held this year in Toronto, Montreal, Regina and Halifax. The groups were
divided into three age categories - 10-12, 13-15 and 16-19, with the oldest
group also divided up between smokers and non-smokers.

Paul Dufresne, a Health Canada spokesperson, 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."

Dufresne said the department would soon release a booklet for parents
identifying signs that a child is smoking marijuana.

The focus group report says the 10-to-12-year-olds believe that smoking
either cigarettes or marijuana is "bad for you" and understand there are
health risks associated with both. Most participants said they would say
"no" if offered either substance or simply walk away.

In the 13-to-15-year-old group, some said they had tried either or both
substances, citing as the main reason curiosity or the fact their friends
had offered them some.

Smoking in this age group appears to be occasional and those who tried it
said they were unlikely to do so in future because they do not see the
"point."