YORK PUBLIC HEALTH SHOULD AWAIT DETAILS OF NATIONAL POT STRATEGY

Just Say No to Pot.

The York Region public health department wants to be sure citizens are
aware of the dangers of smoking marijuana, just as it does with alcohol and
smoking cigarettes.

It's the first time local health advocates have targeted a specific drug in
an awareness campaign -- it's no coincidence they got the urge to do so
just as the federal Justice Department is preparing legislation to ease
marijuana laws.

One can assume the public health department expects more people will
consider taking up smoking pot once it's decriminalized.

It's a concern that hasn't played out in other jurisdictions.

For instance, 12 American states have largely decriminalized marijuana
possession -- saving billions of dollars in court and prison costs --
without experiencing an increase in marijuana use.

The federal government is launching a campaign stressing pot is a health
hazard as part of the new multi-million drug strategy that will also focus
on enforcement of drug crimes and revamped treatment and rehabilitation
programs.

It's not clear why York Region feels it must launch its own initiative,
duplicating the federal government program, particularly at a time when
funds are stretched to the limit.

Unfortunately, officials were reluctant to provide any details regarding
funding.

The rationale for the program is fuzzy, given there is no specific evidence
marijuana use is of a particular concern in the region.

And by insisting the program would go ahead regardless of the outcome of
the federal legislation, public health officials are only adding another
level of perplexity to the issue.

The campaign aims to target the population at large, providing facts about
the benefits and consequences of marijuana use, according to Patricia
Scott-Jeoffroy, a substance abuse prevention educator.

A report presented to the region estimates more than 26,000 York Region
youth -- about 30 per cent of students in grades 7 to OAC -- have used
marijuana.

"(Marijuana) is the number 1 identified drug of choice we see among youth,"
said Pam Santon of Addiction Services for York Region.

That's surprising, given the common assumption tobacco and alcohol are the
most widely used and abused drugs.

Marijuana is the second most common drug for adults after alcohol,
according to Ms Santon, however many people that may be.

Close to half of marijuana users are 30 or older, according to the Centre
for Addiction and Mental Health's study.

Decriminalization of marijuana aside, the public health department appears
to have a case for an awareness program focused on youth -- it's unlikely
the campaign would have much impact on users 30 and older.

There seems to be little correlation between the severity of a nation's
marijuana laws and the rate of use among its teenagers. In the United
Kingdom, where drug penalties are harshly enforced, the rate of marijuana
use among 15 and 16-year-olds is the highest in western Europe --
one-and-a-half times the rate in Spain and the Netherlands, where the drug
has been decriminalized.

The UK rate is six times as high as the rate in Sweden, a nation that has
single-mindedly pursued a public-health approach to drug control. Sweden
now has the lowest rate of marijuana use in western Europe.

Although marijuana does not turn teenagers into serial killers or
irreversibly destroy their brains with one use as the infamous Reefer
Madness movie and other government propaganda once suggested, it should not
be smoked by young people.

Marijuana is a powerful intoxicant and its use can diminish academic and
athletic performance.

Adolescents experience enough social and emotional confusion without the
added handicap of being stoned. If marijuana use does, indeed, exert subtly
harmful effects on the reproductive and immune systems, young people could
be at greatest risk.

The huge difference between the alleged and actual effects of marijuana has
long provided young people with grounds for distrusting authority. Praised
by rebels and artists as diverse as Cab Calloway, Jack Kerouac, Arlo
Guthrie and Snoop Doggie Dog, marijuana has attained a lofty symbolic
importance.

Any drug education program must respect the intelligence of young people by
promoting drug-free lives without scare tactics, lies and hypocrisy.

The new legislation from Ottawa is expected to address criticism of the
national drug strategy that lacked co-ordination and leadership and
suffered from shoddy research and a lack of measurable results.

The region may better meet the needs of its citizens, particularly its
youth, if it awaits the details of the new federal legislation and
awareness campaign rather than contribute to that lack of co-ordination.