BERKELEY, Calif.(BW HealthWire)Aug. 18, 1997A UC Berkeley Extension
seminar examining marijuana addiction and treatment is designed to help
professionals who deal with addicts better understand the nature of that
addiction.

The seminar is led by Julia Ross, former chair of a national conference on
marijuana dependence and director of Recovery Systems, an outpatient
treatment program in Mill Valley.

"Many people who still consider marijuana a benign substance," explains
Ross, "do not realize that the potency of the drug now on the streets is
much more powerful than the drug which was popularized in the 1960s and '70s.
Over the last 20 years, the average THC content of America's number one
cash crop has increased from .05 to 30 an increase of 2,000 percent.

"The ramifications for addiction and treatment are more severe than are
generally recognized. Health professionals, law enforcement officials and
anyone else who deals with addicts needs to become aware that this is a much
more dangerous drug that requires more deliberate treatment."

The seminar examines marijuana's effect on an individual's mental, emotional
and physical functions; the drug's unique addictive process; its tendency to
be stored in the body and cumulative effects; and methods for tailoring
treatment for addicts and their families. The course does NOT address
debates over legalization or medicinal properties of marijuana, nor does it
debate marijuana's negative versus positive potential.

The daylong seminar will be held Saturday, Sept. 6, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.,
at 2308 Tolman Hall on the UC campus in Berkeley. The cost is $120. (The
class is approved for .5 continuing education units.)

To register, call 510/6424111, or register online at
www.unex.berkeley.edu:4243 . Extension's web site also contains the full
catalog of more than 1,300 courses held at convenient times and locations
around the Bay Area and beyond.

CONTACT:

UC Berkeley Extension

Alice Boatwright, 510/6438093

KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA

BW0210 AUG 18,1997