CANNABIS POPULAR AMONG TEENS

ABOUT 40 per cent of high school-aged boys in NSW and 31 per cent of
girls have smoked cannabis, new research shows.

And 5 per cent of boys and 3 per cent of girls have used heroin or
other opiates, a survey of 12 to l7-year-olds has found.

The Secondary Schools Survey, completed in 1996 but not released by
the State Government until yesterday, shows 4 per cent of males and 3
per cent of female students have used ecstasy.

The report found boys were almost twice as likely to report recent
cannabis use as females.

Health Minister Andrew Refshauge yesterday also released new evidence
yesterday that "explodes the myth that cannabis is a harmless drug" by
establishing a link between it and mental illness.

Cannabis was more potent now than ever before and could cause
psychotic illness including losing contact with reality, hearing
voices or seeing things that were not there or having confused
thoughts, he said.

Between 1993 and 1997 there had been a 10 per cent increase in the
number of cannabis-dependent patients suffering drug-induced psychotic
illness, he said.

The Government announced $15,000 would be spent developing a new drug
treatment program for young people.

National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre spokesman Paul Dillon said
yesterday cannabis and other drug use among teenagers had increased
markedly.

The Secondary Schools Survey statistics showed cannabis had become a
more acceptable drug for females when compared to a 1995 national drug
report which found only 24 per cent of 14 to 19-year-old girls had
used it.

The Secondary School Survey also found 27 per cent of boys and girls
reported having used inhalants such as sniffing spray cans, glue,
paint, petrol or thinners.

Mr Dillon said the report based on 1996 research, should have been
released much earlier.

"This kind of information should be independent of politics. If we
don't know what's really happening, how can we do something about it?"
he said.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry