THE VERY REAL DANGERS OF USING MARIJUANA

As a program coordinator for Phoenix House, I deal with adolescents
after they complete treatment for drug abuse. One of the major
struggles we have had as staff is to convince kids that even though
marijuana may not have been their drug of choice when they got to
treatment, it doesn't mean that it is OK to use it after treatment.

So many people, in the media and in our communities, minimize the
risks from using marijuana. Because it is a drug that doesn't have the
overt physical effects that, say, Crystal has, there is a sense that
it is not harmful. But that is the point: marijuana is so much more
covert.

I would question Savary's use of the words, "otherwise productive
citizens." It has been my experience at Phoenix House that our kids
who use marijuana after treatment are not productive in any way. In
fact, all the dreams they had when they decided to get clean from
drugs seem to vanish when they relapse on marijuana. These kids turn
18 and have no aspirations to leave the home and pursue a career of
their own. Life becomes stagnant and meaningless. These kids become
arrested in their development and contribute nothing to themselves or
to the community around them.

Tiffany Crawshaw

Program Coordinator

Family & Community Reintegration Program

Encinitas