SMOKING'S HARM: TAMP OUT TEEN MARIJUANA USE

Two recent reports on smoking describe two very different trends. One
report is national, the other from California.

When it comes to tobacco, a California Health and Human Services
Agency survey released Dec. 20 found that more and more California
residents are kicking the habit. The rate of decline is more than
double the national average, and California's incidence of lung cancer
has fallen three times as fast as the national average. Let us hope
that California's reputation as a harbinger holds true in this case.

When it comes to teenagers, however, a survey funded by the National
Institute on Drug Abuse found that a decline in cigarette smoking has
been eclipsed by an increase in marijuana smoking. The national survey
was released Dec. 14.

Among high school seniors, 21.4 percent reported smoking marijuana,
compared to 19.2 percent who said they smoke cigarettes. About one in
16 said they smoke pot daily.

The study also found growing use of marijuana use by younger teens and
even tweens. Sixteen percent of eighth-graders said they had smoked
pot in the past year, about 10 percent more than in last year's survey.

While the results are alarming, perhaps they're not so
surprising.

Smoking Kills

The message about tobacco is unambiguous: It can kill you. Stark new
warning labels on cigarette packages reinforce that message.

Messages about marijuana are murkier.

In November, California voters rejected a measure to legalize
marijuana for recreational use. But Dr. Nora D. Volkow, director of
the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said medical marijuana is a
factor in rising use among teens, and she's probably right.

No, kids aren't smoking pot to combat text anxiety. But California
teens are certainly aware that the flimsiest claim is enough to
qualify under Proposition 215, the state's overly permissive medical
marijuana law.

In any case, smoking marijuana is medically harmful in the same ways
as tobacco smoking. So it should be avoided unless the medical value
exceeds the medical risk, where legal for that purpose. Looking for
goals in the new year? If you smoke, stop.

If you believe marijuana has medical value -- and we do -- support
efforts to define those values and establish guidelines for doctors to
follow in recommending marijuana as they would any other medicine,
while assuring that the marijuana is strictly controlled for
legitimate medical use.