MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW LIKELY TO REDUCE TEEN USE

Monday, March 08, 2010 New Jersey's medical marijuana law will not
increase marijuana use among teens regardless of what the state's
drug-prevention advocates are saying. In fact, once New Jersey
implements its medical marijuana law, marijuana use among teens is
very likely to decrease.

David Evans, with the Flemington-based Drug Free Schools Coalition,
recently said that former Gov. Jon Corzine's administration
complicated the message to teens, in part, by approving medical
marijuana ("N.J. drug-prevention advocates encourage new
administration to address drug policy as national study finds teen
drug, alcohol use rising," March 4).

Gov. Corzine did no such thing.

Official state government surveys of teen drug use (compiled at
mpp.org/teenuse) have found that no state with a medical marijuana law
has experienced an increase in youth marijuana use since its law's
enactment.

In fact, all medical marijuana states have reported overall decreases,
many exceeding 50 percent in some age groups.

New Jersey's medical marijuana law will not increase use among teens.
What it will do is prevent the state's sick and dying patients from
arrest and offer them safe access to a proven and effective medicine
they feel works best for them.

Kurt A. Gardinier

Washington, D.C.

The writer is director of communications at the Washington, D.C. based
Marijuana Policy Project, an organization pushing for marijuana-law
reform.