BOOZE REMAINS HIGH-SCHOOLERS DRUG OF CHOICE

While the number of high school students who smoke pot has gone up during
the last decade, booze is still their intoxicant of choice, says the
Addictions Foundation of Manitoba.

The number of teens smoking pot jumped 10% from 1993 to 1997 but has
remained static up until AFM's most recent 2001 survey.

MOOD-ALTERING DRUG

"It's a significant increase," said Laura Goossen, AFM's supervisor of youth
community-based services.

Yet alcohol is still the most popular mood-altering drug.

More than 80% of students said they drank booze during the last year
compared with 38% for cannabis products.

While teens have got the message about the dangers of drunk driving, they're
not as aggressively against driving when stoned.

Almost 20% of students felt there was nothing wrong with going behind the
wheel after smoking pot, the survey said.

"That's one of the issues from the education perspective that we need to
tackle," Goossen said.

There's a lot of confusion when it comes to talk about decriminalizing or
legalizing pot, said Det-Sgt. Mark Pruden of the Winnipeg police drug unit.

Some people caught with a gram of pot are surprised they're charged.
"There's a lot of misinformation out there," Pruden said.

There is speculation that the more attention the issue gets, the more
accepting teenagers are of marijuana.

Almost half of students surveyed in 2001 said they figured there's nothing
wrong with using drugs as long as they're in control of their use.

Fewer students felt that way four years earlier.