TO TOKE OR NOT TO TOKE, THAT IS THE QUESTION

Teen Beat

The basement is dimly lit and nondescript rock music plays softly in
the background. Typical teenager Johnny is surrounded by a group of
equally average friends who are talking and laughing, possibly sipping
on generic brand pop or munching chips from plastic containers.

Suddenly, it happens: Cool Kid enters stage left. Johnny is still
talking innocently to Perky Blonde Girl when Cool Kid approaches,
reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out: (ominous organ music
plays) a joint.

"Hey, Johnny, want some? Everyone's doing it."

Johnny is faced with the decision of a lifetime. To toke or not to
toke.

Yes, we've all seen it. The infamous don't-do-marijuana after-school
television special. It's as cliche as they come and dripping with
enough cheese to give your nachos that extra zing.

And, like the rest of us, you probably emitted a pompous scoff, rolled
your eyes, and said, "Psshht, one joint at a party. No big deal."

Well, guess what. You're absolutely right.

Sparking a doobie once at a high school party isn't going to do
anything to you, other than leave you blurry-eyed and hungry. So then,
what is the big deal? Why do your teachers, parents and Concerned
Children's Advertisers put so much time and effort into brainwashing
youth against smoking pot?

Think of it this way:

Remember your first trip to Paramount Canada's Wonderland? You were
six-years-old and scared out of your socks.

One quick whirl on Swing of the Century was enough walking on the wild
side for you - you didn't need a revisit from your previously eaten
lunch.

However, things never really go according to plan. Sure, concurring
Swing of the Century gave you an exhilarating rush, but your craving
wasn't satisfied. In fact, you only hungered more for the thrill. So
the next year you worked up the guts to ride the Rage, promising
yourself that this is where it ends. You were adventurous, not stupid.
Well, OK, maybe the Ghoster Coaster, too. After all, no harm in trying
one measly little roller coaster, right? It's no big deal.

In fact, it's such a small deal that you didn't even notice how
quickly you ended up on the Wild Beast and then the Bat and then Top
Gun. It wasn't until you found yourself strapped into a harness and
hanging from a cable at the top of the Extreme Sky Flyer tower that
you realized just how high you were above the Swing of the Century.
And there was nothing to do but fall.

Of course, there's quite the gap between amusement park rides and
drugs. After all, Extreme Sky Flyer is perfectly legal and, as
Wonderland staff consistently argue, perfectly safe. Nonetheless, it's
rather unnerving when you realize that what was supposed to end at a
simple swing did not stop until you were plummeting toward the ground
faster than a speeding bullet.

Sure, one joint at a party is relatively harmless, if that's where it
ends. And no one goes from smoking pot in a basement one day to
shooting heroine the next.

But it is quite reasonable for a little marijuana to lead to a lot of
marijuana to lead to a little bit of something else.

The staircase to addiction is just that - baby steps. No one plans on
being a junkie and certainly not everyone who smokes a joint in the
basement will become one. But some do and that's the big deal.