YOUNG SMOKERS HIGH ON PLAN TO EASE LAWS

Academics Split On Repercussions

TORONTO (CP) - As the grownups bickered about the consequences, Ottawa
started making good Tuesday on its promise to ease the criminal
repercussions of possessing marijuana - and the kids took it all in stride.

Young people across Canada celebrated the move as medical experts and
academics clashed over whether decriminalization would light a fire
underneath adolescent consumption rates.

"It probably will encourage it, but from what I've seen most people do it
anyway," said James Copley, a 19-year-old college student who lives in the
Montreal area.

"I really don't think people deserve a criminal record for smoking a gram
of pot one evening."

Paul Whitehead, a professor of sociology at the University of Western
Ontario in London, Ont., disagreed vehemently.

"It isn't possible in our society to increase the availability or the
acceptability of marijuana for normal, healthy adults without increasing
its acceptability and availability for children and adolescents," Whitehead
said.

"The consequence will be that we will have more frequent use among children
and adolescents and more kids getting into trouble as a result."

On the other side of the fence were those who believe pot laws in Canada
have never much discouraged the use of marijuana and aren't likely to have
much of an impact when they're removed.

"Cannabis consumption is already fairly prevalent amongst Canadian young
people," said David Marsh, clinical director of addiction medicine at the
Center for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto.

"We don't think the current legislative framework works as an effective
deterrent for young people using cannabis."

The addiction center's study of Ontario adolescents found that 29.8 per
cent of respondents in 2001 reported consuming pot during the past year,
compared with a scant 12.7 per cent in 1993.

Pot even outpaced tobacco, which was used by just 23.6 per cent of the
respondents, who were from Grades 7 to 12. More boys than girls - 33.7 per
cent versus 26 per cent - reported using pot in the last year.

In 2001, respondents who reported selling cannabis set an all-time high of
8.3 per cent, compared with just three per cent in 1991.

Still, there's plenty of room for consumption to grow, Whitehead said.

"Years of surveys have indicated that when you ask people, 'Why don't you
use marijuana,' the first reason usually given is that it is unlawful."

The message from Canada's youth? Mellow out, man.

"Smoking pot is good," said 15-year-old Selia, a Montreal high school
student who said she's has been using marijuana for nearly three years.