CANNABIS EDUCATION SHOULD BE FOCUS

Green Party Health Spokeswoman Sue Kedgley Reckons The Cannabis Debate Is
Focused Too Much On Petty Politics And Not On Teenagers' Health.

AS POLITICIANS and the media continue to wrangle about cannabis law reform,
the important debate - about how to minimise the health risks of cannabis -
is being overlooked.

The recent revelation that 30% of children aged 11 to 17 have tried
cannabis and 70% of those use it regularly before they are 15, suggests
it's time to redirect the cannabis debate into how we can educate people,
especially teenagers, about the health risks of cannabis, and try to
discourage them from smoking the drug.

I'm quite sure most young people who smoke cannabis realise it is illegal.
But I wonder how many are aware cannabis smoke contains potentially
carcinogenic substances similar to those contained in tobacco smoke; and
that there could be as many carcinogens in one unfiltered and loosely
packed joint as in an entire packet of cigarettes.

I wonder how many realise when they inhale cannabis, the smoke will
inevitably affect their lungs, and increase their risk of long term chronic
health effects such as respiratory disease and cancer, especially when it
is combined with tobacco.

Or that as teenagers they absorb the more than 60 active compounds in
cannabis much faster than adults and excrete them more slowly -
particularly THC (the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis) which
accumulates in fatty tissue and can remain there for weeks after a person
has stopped using the drug.

I wonder how many have heard about the study that found, puff for puff, up
to 40% more tar can be deposited in the lungs of cannabis smokers who hold
the smoke in their lungs before exhaling, compared to cigarette smokers. Or
wondered about the additives that might lurk in an illegally produced
marijuana joint, or the herbicides or pesticides that may have been sprayed
on it during its cultivation?

We need to make teenagers aware of the potential side-effects of smoking
cannabis on a regular basis, such as loss of concentration and short-term
memory and motor skills, which may make driving unsafe. These side effects
may make it nearly impossible for users to study - a huge concern for
teachers and principals who have to deal with students under the influence
of the drug at school.

Cannabis is generally rated as a lower health risk than alcohol or
nicotine, both of which produce far more lethal long-term effects. Some
studies suggest there are few short-term impacts for infrequent adult users
of cannabis. But evidence is mounting that frequent cannabis use,
especially by young people, is risky. Teenagers are at a critical stage in
their lives, where they are maturing socially, emotionally and
psychologically. Cannabis can affect this process, as well as their ability
to plan for the future and to study.

Clearly many, perhaps most, of our young people are oblivious to these
risks. So how do we get the message through to them?

High profile anti-smoking and drink driving campaigns have successfully
changed public attitudes towards tobacco and alcohol in our society. We
need the same kind of public campaign about the health risks of cannabis,
targeted at young people.

Unfortunately, the fact cannabis is illegal is hampering urgently-needed
campaigns highlighting the risks of marijuana, in much the same way
society's denial that adolescents were sexually active, a few decades ago,
meant we failed to warn them of the dangers of unprotected sex.

The drug's illegality pushes the debate about the health risks of cannabis
underground. It brands all users as criminals and implies recreational
users are drug addicts, making them hard to reach for either prevention or
intervention.

It's time to bring the debate out into the open, and discuss it in our
classrooms, on television, in advertising and educational campaigns.

Educating young people about the health risks of cannabis and ensuring they
can get help could provide a turning point in their lives. Treating them
like criminals for smoking cannabis might well send them down the wrong
road for the rest of their lives.

That's why the Green Party believes education, not prosecution, is the key
to the endemic problem of young people smoking cannabis. Clearly,
prohibition hasn't worked. Nearly 2000 young people were suspended from our
schools for drug offences last year.

In our view, a law change is needed to allow possession of small amounts of
cannabis, because smoking is a health issue, not a crime. But alongside a
law change we need a well funded and resourced national drug strategy which
focuses on minimising the harm of cannabis.

And let's not just focus on cannabis. Dr David Fergussion of the
Christchurch Medical School's Health and Development centre says schools
which are hysterical about cannabis are often far too laid back about
alcohol and tobacco. Parliament's health select committee recently called
for a national strategy which seeks to minimise the harm of all drugs and
addictive activities. The Greens strongly support that approach.

Obviously there is no magic wand which will solve the health and social
problems of drug abuse, which have their root causes in poverty,
hopelessness and despair. But much more money is needed to help people,
especially young people, who are trapped in a cycle of drug abuse.

The Mental Health Commission says we need an extra $31.25 million for drug
abuse treatment, and that mental health services dealing with children and
youth are funded at 25% of the level they need. Imagine what could be
achieved if we redirected some of the $21.1 million a year spent on
policing cannabis into policies and programmes which would reduce the
adverse health, social and economic consequences of drug use.