TEENS LOSE OPPORTUNITIES WITH POT

At first glance, new research on the effect of marijuana seems to be
one of those good-news-bad-news situations. Upon reflection, though,
the bad news heavily outweighs the good.

Researchers from Carleton University in Ottawa report that heavy
marijuana use drives down the IQ by an average of four points. Yes,
it really does make you stupid. But if you quit, the researchers say,
you can get back to your old self. (Of course, people who had low IQs
in the first place likely wouldn't notice any difference.)

What's disturbing is the increasing number of teenagers smoking dope.
Statistics for Quebec show consumption by people between the ages of
15 and 24 has doubled between 1992 and 1998. Figures are likely
similar in the rest of the country.

Young people, if anything, should be trying to do everything they can
to make themselves smarter. It won't matter if they quit later. The
damage will have been done as they lag behind in their studies, in
their vocational training, in their budding careers.

The world is becoming increasingly competitive. Well-paying, secure
jobs are harder and harder to find. The edge, no doubt, goes to those
with the sharpest minds.

Looking at the wider picture, there is also productivity and
innovation to consider. Our standard of living depends not just on
what we do in Canada, but how well we do it compared with other
countries.

That's not to say we should create a sort of paranoid police state
such as the one school officials seem intent on at a high school in
the suburbs near Ottawa. A 15-year-old was suspended for two days
after a "lockdown" during which a drug-sniffing dog indicated it
smelled marijuana on the boy's coat. The lack of justice is
appalling. We would never subject an adult to such arbitrary measures.

The answer instead is to educate teenagers about the risks they take
with marijuana. The opportunities they lose at this important stage
of their lives may never be regained.