YOUTH 'POT' USE ON THE RISE DESPITE RISKS

SARASOTA -- In the eighth grade, Ashley Parker smoked pot with her
friends a couple times. She thought they were cool until she got
arrested with them for trespassing, and watched her friends turn their
backs on her to save themselves.

Her misguided choices also put her parents through pain and stress.
She's not proud of it.

But she knows it could have been worse.

She didn't have to serve any jail time; she was ordered to perform 100
hours of community service and to attend life-management classes, and
her parents made her write apology letters to the homeowner whose
property she entered illegally, and letters of appreciation to those
who helped her resolve the issue. Her penalties, coupled with the
discomfort of coping with her parents' disappointment, made an
impression on her.

"Some might think it's so harmless (to try the drug), but it takes you
other places," said Parker, now a senior at Manatee High School in
Bradenton. "You don't know what you're getting into."

=85Or just how many risks there are with marijuana
use.

That's the tough-talk message national and local organizations intend
to hammer into pre-teens, teenagers and parents this summer and
throughout the school year.

Federal leaders are alarmed by the level of marijuana use among
students nationwide, particularly the younger ones. And a federal
anti-drug campaign continues to chip away at the assumption by a
portion of parents that a little pot use carries minimal harm --
viewing the act as a rite of passage, even.

In the past decade, the number of eighth-graders using marijuana has
doubled, from one in 10 to one in five, according to recently released
research by the National Drug Control Policy.

Since Parker's arrest, she's the only person in her former group of
friends who has stayed out of trouble, she said.

Says her mother, Charmaine, "It scares her because she sees these kids
(she's known) from middle school; she's seen them now deeper in drugs,
(or) quit school or they are pregnant."

The trend in increased use -- whether ingested by cigarette, bong,
food, "bowl" or "blunt" (a commercial cigar the contents of which have
been replaced with marijuana) -- is evident among Southwest Florida's
youth. Charlotte County is No.1 in the state for marijuana substance
abuse among primary and secondary students. The 2002 Florida Youth
Substance Abuse Survey, conducted by the Florida Department of
Children & Family Services, shows that 21.8 percent of students in
grades six through 12 in Charlotte's school system used the drug in
the 30 days prior to the survey. (The survey was conducted under the
Executive Office of the Governor.)

In the Manatee school system, 14.6 percent of students in grades six
through 12 have used marijuana, the survey shows, placing it No. 25 in
the state.

And Sarasota's students rank No. 8 in the state for marijuana use,
says the 2003 Annual Report on Substance Abuse Trends, conducted by
the Sarasota Coalition on Substance Abuse.

The drug is the No. 1 reason cited for expulsions in Sarasota County,
according to Sarasota County School Board statistics.

The program also stridently urges parents to talk to their children
about drugs and to hold their children more accountable for their actions.

The chances of a teenager using marijuana for the first time increases
during the summer months, according to a national survey conducted by
the National Drug Control Policy.

To get a handle on the growing problem, Congress is funding the
organization's campaign against marijuana -- The Anti-Drug Campaign.

The program supplies communities with packets of educational material
that carry daunting facts about marijuana's harmful effects, as well
as tips for parents.

A tube test =85

Bob Denniston, the program's deputy director of the national media
campaign, has been working with the nonprofit group Partnership for a
Drug Free America to produce a series of mainstream TV commercials.
Some have already aired on major networks during the past year.

Parker, the Bradenton student, has seen a few of them, including one
in which a carload of teenagers goofs off and smokes pot at a drive-up
window. The driver accidentally hits a child on a bike as he pulls
away from the window.

Parker said the ads are a good start to combating the pot-is-cool
message, but she said they're not enough.

"You can do as many commercials as you want, but unless you're open to
it, they will continue (using)," she said. "You have to be slapped in
the face to react."

Denniston agrees that the Anti-Drug Campaign must be multi-faceted to
break the stereotypical belief that marijuana is a benign drug and a
rite of passage.

"We know no one message or credible source will get through to
everyone," he said. "That's why we're working with the YMCA, Girl
Scouts (and) through the Internet and TV to show the negative outcomes."

The educational portion of the campaign will be implemented by schools
and local programs in Manatee, Sarasota and Charlotte counties next
school term, organizers say. The Sarasota County School Board and the
Sarasota Coalition on Substance Abuse initiated some preliminary
programming last school year through the Community Awareness & Family
Education, or CAFE, program.

President Bush's goal for the national program is to reduce marijuana
use among America's youth by 10 percent in two years, and by 25
percent in five years, Denniston said.

Toward that end, by September the Charlotte County Alliance for Safe
and Drug-Free Communities will implement its first series of anti-drug
programs in middle and high schools. (See related story.)

The Manatee organization is still formulating its mission statement
and programs, which it plans to roll out by October.

A sobering discussion

The Anti-Drug Campaign isn't sugar-coating scientific evidence of the
drug's harmful effects. Marijuana permanently damages the brain. And
it is especially harmful to the brain of a child who's at the critical
growth years, generally those in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth
grades.

Marijuana has some of the same effects in the brain as cocaine,
heroine and alcohol. But, since marijuana is fat soluble, unlike the
other, water-soluble drugs, it can influence the brain for longer
periods of time, staying in the body for up to 30 days, scientific
research has proven.

And, while influencing the brain, marijuana interferes with the
learning process by halting logical thinking and delaying retention
capability.

Add to this that the levels of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol, the
psychoactive chemical in marijuana) are much higher today than they
were 10 or 20 years ago, according to a five-year study by the Anti-
Drug Campaign, published in 2002. Growers have refined cultivation
techniques over the years to increase the potency of the plants.

Marijuana is commonly being mixed with other chemicals to produce a
more powerful high, to boot.

Sixty percent of teenagers in drug treatment are dependent on
marijuana.

In addition to marijuana's addictive nature, frequent ingestion can
lead to long-term changes in the brain, with such outcomes as
depression, increased anxiety and panic attacks. And research shows
that smoking marijuana causes the same respiratory problems as do
cigarettes, including frequent chest colds, risk of lung infection,
tissue damage and an increased risk of cancer. Marijuana impairs
judgment and alertness. Research also proves that frequent marijuana
use leads to experimentation with more potent drugs such as the highly
addictive OxyContin or cocaine.

That's a point worth noting, particularly in Southwest Florida;
Sarasota County is No. 1 in the state in OxyContin abuse among youths.

Getting word out

"Some organizations pop up(to target the problem), but don't know what
to do," said the federal policy's Denniston. "So we're showing them
the best practices and programs that work."

The National Drug Control Policy is visiting major cities and
conducting meetings with local media and substance- abuse reform
outlets to share the proven effects of marijuana use on children.
Policy representatives stopped in Tampa in June.

And, just as the national "truth" campaign squeezed the tobacco
industry, drug czars in the nation's capital want The Anti-Drug
Campaign to pinch the nation's marijuana market.

As Amidy Chandler, the director and sole staff member of the Charlotte
(County) Alliance for a Safe and Drug Free Community, describes the
"sell" tactic: "Forget the touchy-feely approach. Americans react
better to aggressive marketing."

Even as the anti-drug coalitions in Southwest Florida gear up to
better educate students and the at-large community, the first line of
defense lies with parents.

Teenagers have rated fear of parental disappointment highest as a
reason to not partake in illegal behavior, research shows.

Experts say parents need to listen to their children and to make
themselves available to support the youngsters, particularly through
the primary-to-secondary education years, which is a difficult
transition period.

Coalitions also suggest that parents talk specifically about
marijuana, rather than lumping all drug use together.

Youngsters need to see stark, realistic consequences if the trend in
marijuana use is to be reversed, says Manatee High's Parker.

Hers is a success story.

She is busy planning a productive future: attending varsity
cheerleading practice, studying for classes at MCC, serving as a
mentor for the Big Brother/Big Sister program, volunteering with
MANATeens, working a part-time job for extra cash -- and steering
clear of drugs.

"Choices will affect you for the rest of your life," Parker advises.
"I got a second chance. Why would I throw that away?"

She said she now tries to set an example. She'll offer realistic
answers to the Jackson Middle School student whom she is mentoring
when that youngster asks about trying risky behaviors that are
perceived to be cool.

"I tell her how stupid it is (to smoke), but I don't know what good it
does. I've been there and I know where it can lead. And, if (your
friends) are willing to bring you into that, then they don't care
about you," she said.

"You can choose to listen or (use and) choose to see it for yourself,"
Parker said. "But, you're taking a chance because you may not come
back from that."