TEENS OFTEN MINIMIZE DANGERS OF MARIJUANA

One of the most frequent and troubling issues faced by parents is their
teen-ager's abuse of "recreational drugs," of which marijuana is most common.

Marijuana is more easily available than ever and children are using it at
an increasingly younger age. Teens abuse marijuana more than all other
illegal substances combined, including alcohol.

Those who glamorize marijuana should remember that it is the leading
substance reported in the arrests and hospital Emergency Room admissions
for teens.

Myths about fun and pleasure act as the motors of vices. Teen culture tends
to minimize the harmful consequences of marijuana abuse and exaggerate the
pleasure aspect of marijuana. Actually, society as a whole tends to
underestimate its harmful effects. It sees marijuana as a "soft drug," and
therefore not as harmful as the "hard drugs" such as acid, cocaine or heroin.

Some baby boomer parents might say, "It's only marijuana." The irony of it
is that marijuana is often the precursor for the use of hard drugs. Make no
mistake about it. Dependence on marijuana can be a serious and debilitating
disorder.

When a teen's marijuana use and related behaviors clash with the rules of
school or society, parents are answerable to the school, police and the
courts. Parents often clash with each other as to how to handle the problem
and often have to miss work for school conferences and court hearings.
Family life is disrupted. Quality of work performance goes down.

Children who start using marijuana regularly and frequently from an early
age may later experience major problems in their personal, social and
emotional development, and consequently, in their education and future
career. Regular and frequent use of marijuana from an early age may also
play a part in the development of a mental disorder. Therefore, treatment
must be sought to the fullest extent.

Many parents have an unrealistic and pessimistic view of treatment for drug
abuse. They view it as a costly and lengthy treatment with little promise
for recovery. This is not true. Now we have a national study, which
confirms that brief and low-cost treatment can be highly effective.

The U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
sponsored a study in 1997 regarding the effectiveness of treatments for
marijuana abuse. The study titled as "Cannabis Youth Treatment (CYT),"
which involved 600 randomly-selected teens in substance abuse treatment is
one of the largest and most scientifically rigorous studies ever conducted
on this subject.

According to the CYT study, the bad news is that teens who use marijuana
once a week or more are more likely to have problems at home, school or
with the law. The good news is that once they stop using marijuana
altogether, these problems rapidly decline.

More good news is that only six to thirteen sessions of outpatient
counseling delivered substantial results. Such counseling led to at least a
fifty percent reduction in marijuana use, behavioral problems, child-parent
conflicts, attention deficit and hyperactivity behaviors, arguing,
violence, illegal activity, school absenteeism and academic
underachievement. These improvements were sustained in at least a third of
the cases as demonstrated by the fact that one year after completion of the
treatment, one third of teens were still abstinent of marijuana use.

Most of the remaining 50 percent who did not respond to 6-13 sessions of
outpatient treatment demonstrated a varying pattern of recovery and
relapse. Some failed to respond to treatment right away but benefited
later, some recovered and relapsed and others had multiple relapses.

Drug abuse might have become firmly entrenched in the personal and social
life of those who don't respond well to brief counseling. They might lack
educational, vocational and social skills to fit into the world of non-drug
users. Some have a stronger genetic bias towards drug dependence. Such
teens require more intensive treatment programs and follow-up support.

It appears that treatment is not an end-all. Two thirds of all recovering
teens need some type of ongoing monitoring and support services. Counseling
should be regarded as just a short phase in the long process of recovery.

Drug abuse is not like flu, which you treat and get over. It is more like
asthma, diabetes or high blood pressure. Disease management and recovery
maintenance is required. A doctor should treat the disease and educate
patients in monitoring and managing the disorder.

The good news from the national study is that counseling for teen marijuana
problems can be brief and inexpensive. About one half of the teens showed
all-around improvement in 6 to 13 weeks of counseling. As teens improved,
their parents reported a 42 percent reduction of stress at home and 52
percent reduction in missed days at work.