MORE PUFFING ON POT

Poll Shows Large Generation Gap Between Kids, Parents

A massive pot-smoking generational gap between Canada's young people
and their parents is widening, a new Sun-Leger poll shows.

More than a third of young adults (36%), those aged 18-24, have smoked
marijuana in the past year compared to only 8% of their parents --
those in the 35-54 age range -- according to the new survey taken April 1-6.

The percentage of Canadian youth who smoke marijuana -- 58% have tried
it by age 24, according to the poll -- has been continually rising
since 1993 and is now among the highest in the world.

"Absolutely parents should be concerned. What if trying the drug moves
on to regular use?" said Diane Buhler, an executive with the Parent
Action Group on Drugs.

"The experimenting begins when the kids are in high school. The kids
do tell us marijuana is easily available and consistently used in
their peer groups. It's all around them."

While more than a third of people 18-24 have recently smoked, only 24%
of 25-34-year-olds have puffed pot in the past year. After age 34, the
rate drops off dramatically with only 1% of seniors older than 65
lighting up last year.

"I think what you're seeing is a lot of people experimenting with the
drug at a young age and then they are done with it," Buhler said. "Be
careful not to overreact to experimentation, but parents have to be
very aware if use increases."

A similar poll two years ago showed the same results for the older age
groups but only 30% of young adults aged 18-24 had smoked in the year
previous.

"The response we're getting consistently is, 'It can't be so bad, it's
used for medicine, how can you say it's as bad for you as alcohol?' "
Buhler said.

Public awareness and education campaigns dealing with marijuana are
almost non-existent.

"We don't have a Canada drug strategy and the provincial drug strategy
is not active," she said.

Education Spending

The irony, Buhler said, is that if the drug laws were relaxed the
federal and provincial governments would have to deal with the issue
and spend more money on educating youth.

"That's what we're hoping," Buhler said. "Right now the debate around
legalization has taken over completely from the health issues. It
would be better if we could find a solution and end that debate."

Canada's Marijuana Party Leader Marc-Boris St. Maurice said
legalization would actually bring more controls to the smoking habits
of young people.

"As with alcohol and cigarettes, teens will still use drugs including
marijuana," St. Maurice said.

"But by having the state decide the parameters within which a person
can properly obtain marijuana is a much more effective safeguard then
the current situation where a dealer is not concerned with the age of
the buyer nor their safety."