COUNSELOR SAYS DOPE IS GETTING DANGEROUS

One Doctor Reports That Drug Use Has Increased Among Teens And That Pot Has
Become More Potent.

Marijuana's appeal has grown with its potency, and that's a problem for
pediatricians.

The American Academy of Pediatrics' second statement to its members on
marijuana use this decade was written by Dr. Peter D. Rogers, a recovering
drug and alcohol abuser and an adolescence substance-abuse counselor at
Children's Hospital.

He warns that the marijuana teens smoke today is not their parents' dope.

"Trends suggest that the low- dose, self-experimentation type of use
typical of the 1960s may be giving way to the high-potency, high- reward
pattern of compulsive marijuana use during the late 1990s,'' Rogers wrote
in the paper, which will be published in the academy journal in October.

"The seriousness of the behavioral consequences of marijuana use is
sufficient to cause great concern and should prompt the pediatrician to
counsel young people against any use of the drug.''

In an interview, Rogers said that despite working with thousands of
youngsters through the years, his research taught him a lot about the drug
many of his patients use. Rogers is a member of the academy's committee on
substance abuse.

"My opinion has changed,'' he said. "When I first started, in 1985, I
didn't think marijuana was that bad.''

Today, however, he said he's convinced the drug is stronger than it used to
be and is addictive.

"John Lennon once said that marijuana was nothing more than a harmless
giggle,'' Rogers said. "He was probably right. But today, its potency has
increased.''

Rogers' paper contends:

- - Since the last academy statement on marijuana, in 1991, the use of the
drug among young people has grown.

- - In 1991, 10 percent of eighth- graders reported having used the drug at
some time in their lives. In 1997, 23 percent reported the same.

- - Among high-school seniors, the number of teens using marijuana grew from
37 percent to 50 percent during this period. The federal government's
annual National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, released this week, found
that one in 10 teen- agers uses marijuana or other illegal drugs, down from
1997 but double what it was in 1992.

- - Marijuana's potency, which is measured in the percentage of
tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in the dry weight of samples, has increased.

- - The average potency of THC in 1975 was 0.71 percent. In 1997, the potency
was 3.71 percent.

- - Marijuana use has been associated with cardiovascular, pulmonary and
reproductive problems. Chronic use can result in the same health problems
associated with cigarette smoking.

- - Marijuana can affect cognitive skills and memory among young users and
can impair the ability to learn.

Keith Stroup, executive director for the National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws, in Washington, D.C., said there are reports that
contradict Rogers' findings about marijuana potency and addictiveness.

"You could say orange juice is addictive,'' Stroup said. "Or taking a
shower every morning.''

The group's position is that marijuana use should be restricted to adults
only.

"I don't think marijuana is a dangerous drug, but pediatricians should talk
to their patients about all kinds of drug use,'' Stroup said.

Dr. Jennifer White, a pediatrician with Riverside Methodist Hospitals, said
physicians and parents shouldn't wait to talk with young people.

"We start right away in the sixth grade,'' she said. "We have several
questions we like to ask about what we call the 'spheres of interaction.'
They are school, family and peers.''

She said doctors should ask patients how they're doing in school, how they
get along with their parents and siblings, and what they do with their
friends.

"A discussion of drug use, including the use of marijuana, should be a
routine part of primary health-care clinical preventive services for every
child and every adolescent,'' Rogers wrote in his paper.

"An assessment of potential drug use gives the pediatrician the opportunity
to offer anticipatory guidance before the onset of drug use, to intervene
and minimize consequences if drug use has begun, and to detect and address
issues of long-term or heavy use.''

Rogers said parents need to keep a close eye on their children because most
intervention programs don't work.

"I wish I had a nickel for every parent who said they smoked it in the '60s
or '70s and that it's not a big deal,'' he said.

"No one has ever died from an overdose of marijuana, but it's not a safe
drug.''