SENATE EXPOSING YOUTH TO MARIJUANA RISK

Editor, The News:

The Senate committee report declared that marijuana is not a gateway drug.
It is true that not all marijuana users will turn to hard drugs, but that
is not the whole story. Some information from the University of Iowa's
department of psychiatry:

1) The more marijuana is used, the shorter time its effect lasts. 2)
Tolerance to psychoactive effects develops with continued use. 3)
Psychological and mild physical dependence gradually occurs with regular
use. The result is that the user may seek more powerful drugs to reach the
desired "high."

Some information from My Kid Source Parenting Newsletters: 1) Long-term
studies of high school students and the pattern of their drug use show that
very few use other illegal drugs, without first trying marijuana. 2) Using
marijuana puts children and teens in contact with people who are users and
sellers of other drugs. There is then more of a chance for a marijuana user
to be exposed to, and urged to try, more drugs. 3) However, most marijuana
users do not go on to use other drugs. In speaking to some of the
individuals at the "pot" rally Saturday, I was informed that only one in
100 marijuana users would move into the "hard drug scene."

That is 1,000 per 100,000 users who will graduate into a life worse than
death. Is it worth it to expose our youth to this risk? Pot rallies, the
Marijuana political party, Internet misinformation and peer pressure are
cause for concern - and now, the Senate. There were many young people in
attendance at the Mill Lake rally. I observed one young person passing
around a joint. I asked him his age and he informed me that he was 14. I
drew this to the attention of one of the adults involved in the rally, who
is in the position to know the law.

His comment was that there was nothing he could do about it,and it had
nothing to do with him. What reason do our young people have to say "no"
when supposedly caring adults and some politicians, senators and community
leaders appear to sanction the mind-altering dangerous drug, marijuana? Do
we care?

Eric Myrholm Abbotsford