POT SERIES PRAISED BY DRUG COUNSELOR

I commend the Telegraph for its recent focus on this complex and very
controversial drug - marijuana.

After more than 31 years as an alcohol/drug abuse counselor, I could
write several books about my clinical experiences with pot-using
teens, adults and their families.

Oftentimes, many users consume a pleasure drug without problems.
Social drinkers, the "know when to say when" crowd, are a good
example. And there are pot users that certainly meet this general
criteria, although smoking a drug is hazardous to health.

Certainly the recreational pot smokers would benefit if the drug were
legal. However, these are not among the steady stream of people that
I see clinically.

Any drug - including pot - that quickly alters mind, mood and
behavior ("buzz drugs") will be abused by certain people. Whether
these drugs are legal or not, certain people get messed up.

Alcohol is the most widely used and abused drug in our culture.
Caffeine-laced "energy" drinks and prescription medicines are now
creating lots of trouble in my office. And with cigarettes most
people who learn how to inhale are quickly headed into addiction.

Buzz drugs are like poison ivy in that some are immune, while others
have various degrees of allergic reactions. And the only way to find
out what happens to you is to get exposed.

The negative consequences typically appear quickly the younger you
start experimenting. Middle school is crunch time for kids in our
culture today. Cigarettes, alcohol and pot are typically the "gateway
drugs" that start the process.

Certainly, I see kids who start with pot and it leads to a Chinese
menu of drug abuse. However, there are many people who begin with pot
and stay with pot alone as the drug of preference.

As an in-school student assistance program counselor for 12 years, I
saw a steady stream of kids in serious trouble with just pot. Family
tensions, hassles with peers, failing grades were commonplace.

There were 14- and 15-year-old pot smokers with all the classical
signs of drug dependency, and normal adolescent development was at a
standstill.

There is a huge difference between getting high or "stoned" and being
a "stoner." The latter is characterized by having a powerful need to
keep using pot despite various recurring troubles.

Yes, marijuana can become addictive, both physical and psychological.
The physical withdrawal from heavy use is gradual, unlike drugs like alcohol.

I've seen 64-year-old workers test positive for pot after job-related
accidents and their career is on the line. Or folks in divorce court
because they love pot more than their spouse.

Or commercial truck drivers out of work because of a pot-positive
drug test. Or college freshmen who end their college careers in a
heavy pot haze. The examples are seemingly endless.

So from my clinical experiences marijuana certainly is not just some
naturally growing harmless weed.

Mike Beebe

Lyndeborough