GETTING POTTY ON CANNABIS

AS a parent and a parent educator I am astounded that neither Nandor Tancoz
nor the recently released Potted Facts made mention of the potential mental
health effects of marijuana.

When we hear Professor Robin Murray of the Institute of Psychiatry in
London site studies that suggest cannabis users are seven times more likely
to develop mental health problems, we as a nation need to sit up and take
notice.

When we read of a NZ study that found those who used cannabis at 15 were
four and a half times more at risk of developing psychosis by the age of
26, we need to do something.

And of a seven-year Australian study that showed that daily cannabis use at
14 to 15 years of age was associated with a five-fold risk of depression at
the age of 20, then surely as families and a nation we have to sit up and
take notice.

The "drugs are harmless brigade" tend to have a knee jerk response to
anecdotal tales of psychiatric breakdowns and indeed any link between
marijuana and psychosis.

Yet surely as parents and a society we should always err on the side of
caution when considering the mental health of young people.

Indeed not doing this, when we know that 50 per cent of our teenagers have
tried or are using marijuana, constitutes a total disregard for public
safety and the mental health of the next generation.

Jennie Milne

Coordinator, How to Drug Proof your Kids

Focus on the Family NZ