LEGALIZED POT SAID A DANGER TO KIDS

WASHINGTON - Young people who smoke marijuana are far more likely than
nonusers to move on to harder drugs, a substance abuse research group
concludes in a report that opposes efforts to legalize or decriminalize
nonmedical marijuana.

``Teen experimentation with marijuana should not be considered a casual
rite of passage,'' said Joseph Califano, chairman and president of the
National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University.

``Teens who smoke marijuana are playing a dangerous game of Russian
roulette,'' he said.

The center's report was released as a House Government Reform Committee
held a second hearing today on pros and cons of decriminalizing drugs.
Testifying were former Drug Enforcement Administration head Thomas
Constantine and advocates of relaxed laws on marijuana use.

``Marijuana stands convicted as a gateway drug,'' Califano concluded,
citing conclusions in the report that youngsters 12 to 17 years old who
smoke marijuana are 85 times more likely to use cocaine than those who do not.

The report, which focuses on nonmedical use of marijuana, said the drug is
especially dangerous for teens, impairing short-term memory, stunting
intellectual and emotional growth and increasing the likelihood of
unprotected sex as well as leading to other drugs such as cocaine or heroin.

It said that of 182,000 teens and children who entered treatment in 1996
for substance abuse, nearly half, 48 percent, were admitted for marijuana
abuse or addiction.

That compared to 19 percent for alcohol and a secondary drug, 12 percent
for alcohol alone, 3 percent for smoked cocaine, 2.4 percent for
methamphetamines and 2.3 percent for heroin.

The report concluded that decriminalization or legalization of marijuana
would surely increase use among teen-agers and children. But it also
opposed mandatory sentences for possession of small amounts of marijuana,
saying prosecutors and judges should be given wide discretion in order to
encourage teens to stop using the drug.

``Mandatory sentences are particularly insidious where teens convicted of
possession of marijuana are concerned,'' Califano said.

The report said that 70 million Americans have tried marijuana, making it
the nation's most commonly used illegal substance. In 1998, almost 23
percent of 12th graders said they had smoked marijuana within the past
month, and just under one-half had tried marijuana during their lives.