U.S. LAUNCHING ANTI-MARIJUANA CAMPAIGN FOR KIDS

WASHINGTON -- Worried that 1 in 5 eighth-graders admits to having tried
marijuana, up from 1 in 10 a decade ago, the White House and the nation's
top doctor, Surgeon General Richard Carmona, are beginning a campaign today
to try to convince parents that this is a dangerous trend.

"There's a myth that marijuana isn't as dangerous as smoking," Carmona
said. "That's not true. It's dangerous and addictive."

Noting that marijuana has three to five times more tar and carbon monoxide
than many cigarettes, he said the number of emergency-room admittances of
teen-agers because of marijuana has gone up 176 percent since 1994.

At a news conference to announce the new campaign, John Walters, director
of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, was interrupted
by demonstrators in favor of legalizing marijuana. They argued that there
is no evidence that anti-drug messages diminish young people's interest in
drugs and that thousands of people are wasting their lives in prison for
using or selling marijuana.

As two men from a group called Common Sense for Drug Policy were ejected
from the news conference by Secret Service agents, Walters said there has
been "intimidation" and "an effort to silence" the message that marijuana
is dangerous.

Legalizing small amounts of marijuana is on the ballot this November in
Nevada, and Walters said he will make three trips to the state before
voters go to the polls in an effort to try to defeat the proposal. The
referendum asks Nevadans to decide whether to permit adults to possess as
much as three ounces of marijuana without facing criminal penalties.

Michigan, Ohio and Arizona voters will vote to reduce penalties for
marijuana or permit its use for medical reasons. A similar question may be
on the ballot in the District of Columbia.

In 1996, California voters approved marijuana use for medical purposes,
especially in controlling pain, but federal Drug Enforcement Agency agents
say it is a violation of federal law and routinely raid medical marijuana
clinics. Some approval of medical marijuana is also in the law books in
Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.

A recent study for the Canadian Senate argues that prison cells are being
filled with marijuana users, and that it's time to legalize it. Walters
said he knew about the report, but that he had met with Canada's health and
justice ministers, and they don't accept the findings.

The DEA argues that there is no "good science" that proves marijuana is
helpful in easing pain, but that there's plenty of evidence that it is an
"entry" or "gateway" drug that may lead to use of drugs such as cocaine and
heroin, that it can promote dangerous driving and unprotected sex, and its
use can create long-term adverse effects on the brain and lungs.

Supporters of marijuana argue that, used properly and grown without
additives, it alleviates pain for some patients dealing with such serious
illnesses as cancer and that it can be used safely.

The Drug Policy Alliance contends that 54 percent of high school seniors
experiment with illegal drugs at some point, despite anti-drug ad
campaigns, and that telling teens to "just say no" does little good.

Carmona, who was confirmed as surgeon general six weeks ago and is making
this his first campaign, disagreed. He maintained that the first step is to
convince parents that marijuana "is not a rite of passage, but a dangerous
behavior that could have serious health consequences. Parents must realize
that what they tell their children about drug use makes a difference.
There's good science behind what I'm saying."

Walters said teen-agers are getting the wrong message about marijuana from
peer pressure and that they believe that it's widely used by adults, who
purposefully exaggerate the danger to their children. He says there must be
a national groundswell of opposition to marijuana, especially because more
potent forms of marijuana are coming onto the market.

The campaign has the support of the American Medical Association, the
American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Medical Association and 14
other national groups, such as the National PTA.

A new government pamphlet published for parents, called "Wake Up to the
Risks of Marijuana," argues that weekly marijuana users are four times more
likely to engage in violent behavior than those who don't, that it reduces
problem-solving ability and increases memory loss. More information is
available from www.theantidrug.com or www.mediacampaign.org or by calling
the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information at 1-800-788-2800.