U.S. STUDY ADDS TO EVIDENCE THAT MARIJUANA IS ADDICTIVE

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Troubled teenagers who use marijuana can quickly
become dependent on the drug, Colorado researchers reported Tuesday.

More than two-thirds of teens referred for treatment by social service or
criminal justice agencies complained of withdrawal symptoms when they
stopped using marijuana, Dr. Thomas Crowley of the University of Colorado
and colleagues reported.

``This study provides additional important data to better illustrate that
marijuana is a dangerous drug that can be addictive,'' Dr. Alan Leshner,
head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), which paid for the
study, said in a statement.

``It also identifies the devastating impact marijuana dependence can have
on young people and highlights the fact that many both need and want help
dealing with their addiction,'' he added.

Crowley's team at the university's Addiction Research and Treatment Service
studied interviews, medical examinations and social histories of 165 boys
and 64 girls aged 13 to 19.

More than 80 percent of the boys and 60 percent of the girls were
clinically dependent on marijuana.

When asked, 97 percent of the teens said they still used marijuana even
after realizing it had become a problem for them.

Eighty-five percent admitted their habit interfered with driving, school,
work and home life, while 77 percent said they spent ``much time'' getting,
using or recovering from the effects of marijuana, according to the study,
published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

Most also said their problems started before they started using marijuana.

``About 825,000 youths were arrested and formally processed by juvenile
courts in 1994,'' Crowley said in a statement.

``About 50 percent of these youths tested positive for marijuana at the
time of arrest and many fit the profile of the teens in this study, making
them at high risk for marijuana dependence,'' he added.

``The challenge now becomes to develop highly effective methods to treat
high-risk adolescents dependent on marijuana,'' Leshner said.

President Clinton's anti-drug leader Barry McCaffrey said 50,000 young
people seek treatment for marijuana dependence every year.

``This important study underscores what drug treatment professionals have
long recognized: that marijuana is a dangerous drug, and its use can lead
to severe consequences for vulnerable young people,'' McCaffrey said in a
statement.

Drug abuse experts say the problem is a physical, not a moral one and say
drug addicts should be treated like anyone else with a disease rather than
jailed.