CONFRONTING TEEN DRUG USE

The rest of the nation appears to be catching up to Santa Cruz County
in one unfortunate aspect: marijuana use among teens.

According to a new government report released this week, one in 15
high school students in the U.S. smokes pot on a near-daily basis.

Near daily.

Not only is that a startling figure, it also reflects what appears to
be the highest use since the druggy 1970s, and goes against other
substance abuse trends showing use of alcohol, cocaine and even
cigarettes declining in the same population.

And here's another way to consider the drug use data: If the numbers
are true, then one in 15 high school students is either already
addicted or well on the way to becoming addicted to increasingly
potent marijuana.

Oh, but pot isn't addicting, runs the counter-argument. And, in
purely physiological terms, that might be true, at least not like
heroin is addicting.

Psychologically, however, it's all too true.

We bring up Santa Cruz County because marijuana and alcohol use have
been significantly higher among high-schoolers in this community than
among peers statewide.

In the latest national figures, about 25 percent of high-schoolers
reported using marijuana. In Santa Cruz County, however, 30 percent
of 11th-graders reported they had used marijuana, compared to 20
percent of 11th-graders statewide. More than 40 percent of local
11th-graders also reported drinking alcohol.

Correspondingly, the acceptance among Santa Cruz County adults of
marijuana for recreational use, while declining slightly over the
past two years, remains high -- about half of all adults surveyed
still find it acceptable. The acceptance rate is higher among white
and North County adults than in the primarily Latino South County.

The medical marijuana movement also is prevalent in Santa Cruz County
and has burgeoned throughout the state. Federal drug authorities say
they believe the uptick in teen pot use is partially due to the
increasing prevalence of medical marijuana, which is available in
dispensaries regulated in this community by local governments.

According to an inpatient director at the Betty Ford Center in Rancho
Mirage, it's also not uncommon for young adults who enter the center
because of substance abuse or addiction issues to show up with
medical marijuana cards.

The message in recent years that has gone out to young people is that
marijuana is good medicine. And while that's true for some seriously
ill people, the prevalence of medical pot cards only drives this point home.

The teen survey also showed that teens are also influenced by their
parents. It might seem to many parents that young people don't pay
attention to them, but that really isn't true. If parents aren't
bothered by their son or daughter smoking pot -- or if they smoke
marijuana themselves somewhat regularly -- then guess what? It
doesn't take a genius to figure out that the teens who were smoking
pot even more prevalently 30 years ago are today's parents.

Since there are fewer drug prevention resources available today than
just a few years ago with government funding in a free-fall downward,
that means parents are the primary adult figures who can speak into
their teens' lives about what chronic drug use does to a person's
mental, physical and spiritual life.

The question is, do they really believe that's true? Do you?