MARIJUANA MESSAGE A DANGEROUS ONE FOR TEENS

The message that all levels of government need to send Canadian youth must
be clear: Marijuana is proven to be harmful and is often related to a host
of social problems for young people.

Unfortunately, this is not the message coming from the federal government
now that the decriminalization of marijuana is on the front burner of
federal politics. At the same time government is spending millions of
dollars to stop cigarette smoking and trying to get alcohol-related
problems under control, they are investing time, energy and resources into
relaxing laws around marijuana.

At some point over the last decade, smoking dope, especially for young
people, has become very much in vogue. Marijuana advocates have done an
excellent job of getting their message across.

Have the anti-marijuana factions been so successful?

Since the mid-1980s, a time that was synonymous with the unsuccessful "War
on Drugs" in the U.S., there has been a continual shift in public opinion
towards decriminalizing, and even legalizing, marijuana.

Often overlooked in this era of greater tolerance towards marijuana is the
mountain of evidence surrounding its risks. Recent research published in
the British Medical Journal found that frequent use, especially among young
girls, was linked to depression and anxiety. Another study found that
cannabis use among young people in general increased the risk of late-onset
schizophrenia by 30 per cent.

While it's true that many of marijuana's short-term effects are similar to
that of alcohol, such as impaired judgement and coordination, and the
long-term effects in many ways mirror tobacco, both legal substances, many
advocates for marijuana use make smoking dope seem like harmless fun.

The largest group of mainstream victims in this glorification of marijuana
campaign are young people. In schools throughout this province marijuana
use can be linked to crime, absenteeism, class failures and students
dropping out of school. A study done in 2000 for Health Economics Magazine
found teens that smoked marijuana were twice as likely to drop out of
school as their non-dope-smoking classmates.

I agree with part of the sentiment behind changing the laws that surround
marijuana. Young people who use it do not need to be sent to jail, they
need help to stop using it. There is a desperate need for more resources to
address marijuana use, along with alcohol and tobacco use, among teenagers.

The problem I have with changing the laws is the perception it creates:
that the government may be seen to be condoning, or even supporting, its
use. The federal government's vision about curbing drug use is very unclear.

As the debate over the legal status of marijuana possession rages, the
message society - from the government down to the individual citizen - is
sending young people about marijuana must be clear. Marijuana use is a
serious social concern, often causing great strife especially among young
people. Let's get past the legal semantics and get on with the serious
issue of addressing the drug problems with young people that are too often
ignored.