MORE ATTENTION BEING FOCUSED ON MARIJUANA USE

Once considered the "gentle weed" of the 1960s, marijuana is no longer
considered harmless. In fact, it may be more dangerous than ever.

Alarmed by reports marijuana is becoming more potent than ever and
children are trying it at younger and younger ages, U.S. officials are
changing their drug policies.

Pot may pose a greater threat than cocaine or even heroin because so
many more people use it. So officials at the National Institutes of
Health and at the White House are hoping to shift some of the focus in
research and enforcement from "hard" drugs such as cocaine and heroin
to marijuana.

While drug use overall is falling among children and teens, the
officials worry the children who are trying pot are doing so at
ever-younger ages, when their brains and bodies are vulnerable to
dangerous side effects.

The number of children and teenagers in treatment for marijuana
dependence and abuse has jumped 142 percent since 1992, the National
Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University
reported in April.

According to the report, children and teens are three times more
likely to be in treatment for marijuana abuse than for alcohol, and
six times likelier to be in treatment for marijuana than for all other
illegal drugs combined.

And the study had even more bad news. It found the age of youths using
marijuana is falling. The teens aged 12 to 17 said on average they
started trying marijuana at 13-1/2. The same survey found that adults
aged 18 to 25 had first tried it at 16.

However, the final straw for National Institute on Drug Abuse director
Dr. Nora Volkow was a report her institute published in May in the
Journal of the American Medical Association showing the steady growth
in the potency of cannabis seized in raids.

According to the University of Mississippi's Marijuana Potency
Project, average levels of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana,
rose steadily from 3.5 percent in 1988 to more than 7 percent in 2003.

While the research so far is inconclusive, Volkow believes
cannabinoids produced by marijuana affect the developing brain and
that stronger pot, combined with earlier use, could make children and
teens anxious, unmotivated or perhaps even psychotic.

Parents nationwide continue to worry about their children in drug
culture environment, and the last thing we wanted to hear is that even
the lowest risk drug is becoming more potent. It's time to renew our
vigilance at home and on the streets.