CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER - MARIJUANA AND THE MARGINALIZATION OF PREVENTION

Dealing a blow to years of work and recent gains in youth drug
prevention, Massachusetts has joined a growing, but still short, list
of states that have decriminalized marijuana possession.

At least that was the intention of some 65 percent of voters checking
yes on a ballot initiative that makes possession of an ounce or less
of marijuana a civil offense (punishable by a ticket) as opposed to a
criminal one.

And this on the same day voters approved a ban on greyhound
racing.

Protect the dogs but throw the kids under the bus. Go figure. Indeed,
opponents of the ballot initiative - which included state
constitutional officers, district attorneys, police chiefs,
ministers, school superintendents, and major newspapers said, "We
believe that efforts to legalize drugs of any kind represent the
wrong direction for Massachusetts and put our children, our families,
and our communities at risk."

The Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy, which backed the
measure, points proudly to the monetary savings for police
departments. But that ignores the total national economic cost of
drug abuse of $254.8 billion in 2008 or the obvious cost-shifting to
an already overburdened health-care system.

The Massachusetts' Coalition for Safe Streets says that marijuana is
already a primary factor in juvenile ER admissions. Emergency
department episodes involving marijuana almost tripled from 1994 to
2002, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration (SAMHSA), which reports that marijuana is the most
widely used illicit drug in America. In fact, of all youth ages 12-17
in drug treatment in 2000, nearly 62 percent had a primary marijuana
diagnosis. But dollars don't equal sense in this equation. What
really matters is the health and safety of our children.

Marijuana smoke contains 50 to 70 percent more carcinogenic
hydrocarbons than does tobacco smoke, increasing the risk of chronic
cough, bronchitis, and emphysema, as well as cancer of the head,
neck, and lungs. It also leads to changes in the brain similar to
those caused by cocaine and heroin.

In addition, marijuana use affects alertness, concentration,
perception, and reaction time, all critical to the safe operation of
automobiles.

Yet, alarmingly, Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD)
research has shown that young people tend to underestimate the
dangers of drugged driving, with 15 percent of teen drivers reporting
having operated a car under the influence of marijuana.

Other risks, including deteriorating school performance, disrupted
relationships, depression, suicide, and crime, can't be overlooked.

Our kids deserve clear, unambiguous messages about the dangers
associated with marijuana, the very type of messages that have helped
drive down use among Massachusetts high school and middle school
students from 50 percent to 41 percent since 2001. On a national
level, the prevalence of marijuana use has fallen 33 percent among
eighth-graders and 25 percent among tenth-graders during the same
time period.

And that is important because turning back the tide of progress in
youth drug prevention is not only a Massachusetts issue, but rather
one that threatens kids everywhere - especially the loosening of
restrictions on marijuana use being proposed in Congress.

Some supporters of decriminalization point to statistics showing that
relaxed laws have not led to an increase in marijuana use (even
though 65 percent of students in the SADD study cited the law as the
No. 1 reason they choose not to use drugs). Interesting, considering
that SAMHSA reports half the states with the highest percentage of
new youth marijuana users have medical marijuana programs.

But debates over the data aside, shouldn't our focus remain on
reducing use, not on maintaining the status quo?

In "What Americans Need to Know About Marijuana," the Office of
National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) shoots holes in a series of
"myths" that no doubt perpetuate drug use by young people and
embolden even caring adults to send the message that smoking weed is
really no big deal. Among them: Marijuana is harmless; marijuana is
not addictive; and youth experimentation with marijuana is inevitable.

In their place, ONDCP advocates for a closer examination of the
facts, including the incredibly powerful role that parents can play
in keeping their kids drug-free by staying involved, setting limits,
and enforcing consequences.

The importance of empowered parents in reducing youth drug use cannot
be overstated, especially in the face of well-funded state and
national campaigns to decriminalize the potent presence of marijuana
in too many young lives.

It is, without a doubt, a clear and present danger.

Stephen Wallace, national chairman of SADD and author of the new book,
"Reality Gap: Alcohol, Drugs, and Sex - What Parents Don't Know and Teens
Aren't Telling," has broad experience as a school psychologist and
adolescent