COUNSELORS - KIDS CAN UNDERSTAND POT ABUSE, MEDICAL USE

SANTA CRUZ - Santa Cruz County could put any parent in a cannabis conundrum.

Voters have embraced medical marijuana.

Kids are more likely to abuse pot.

Does this cause a gray area for parents?

Santa Cruz County voters overwhelmingly approved medical marijuana, with 74
percent voting to approve Proposition 215 in 1996.

That proposition was written in part by Mike and Valerie Corral, who find
themselves at the center of the issue after a Sept. 5 raid by federal agents.

Drug Enforcement Administration agents uprooted 167 marijuana plants
belonging to the Wo/men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana, which the Corrals
co-founded.While medical marijuana generally has been well received in the
county, there are concerns in some corners about teen marijuana use.

More than half, 53 percent, of 11th graders in the county have tried pot
compared with 48 percent nationally, according to a 2000 survey.

Medical marijuana advocates say using pot should be discussed just as
anything else a doctor recommends or prescribes. Some counselors agree that
older kids understand the difference between recreational and medicinal
marijuana.

"Give kids the credit to being smart and being able to discriminate between
medicinal uses and nonmedicinal abuses," said Bill Manoff, who heads the
county's alcohol and drug program. "They are two different things."

So how does a parent talk to kids about marijuana use?

Counselors say some of the best defense tips are basic parenting:

Be honest.

Be involved.

Impart a sense of self worth to the kid.

"A child's relationship with drugs is not about drugs and alcohol," said
Marty Fleischman, director of Camp Recovery Centers in Scotts Valley. "It's
about your child's relationship with themselves."

He recommended parents be honest about marijuana.

"We have parents who make marijuana out to be the big boogie man - try it
and the next thing you will be down at the (Beach) Flats, you'll be
killed," Fleischman said. "The kids knows friends using marijuana without
those consequences."

Instead, talk about the benefits and risks associated with using marijuana
at a young age, Manoff said.

"It's really the subtle long-term effects that are more serious," Manoff said.

A lack of motivation, memory loss and school performance are some of those
effects.

Also, counselors say the tried and true mantra of steering kids from
recreationally using drugs is "to be involved."

Know your child's friends. Their names. Ask them to dinner or other family
activities.

That becomes more difficult as children become teens.

When broaching the subject, Manoff said it's more important to ask
questions than to lecture.

"Listen more than you talk," Manoff said. "Ask your kid how they feel about
drugs. Have a conversation."