Have you seen this?

[IntrepidS]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...h_marijuana_dc

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Alarmed by reports that marijuana is becoming more potent than ever and that children are trying it at younger and younger ages, U.S. officials are changing their drug policies.

Pot is no longer the gentle weed of the 1960s and may pose a greater threat than cocaine or even heroin because so many more people use it. So officials at the National Institutes of Health (news - web sites) and at the White House are hoping to shift some of the focus in research and enforcement from "hard" drugs such as cocaine and heroin to marijuana.

While drug use overall is falling among children and teens, the officials worry that the children who are trying pot are doing so at ever-younger ages, when their brains and bodies are vulnerable to dangerous side effects.

"Most people have been led to believe that marijuana is a soft drug, not a drug that causes serious problems," John Walters, head of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said in an interview.

"(But) marijuana today is a much more serious problem than the vast majority of Americans understand. If you told people that one in five of 12- to 17-year-olds who ever used marijuana in their lives need treatment, I don't think people would remotely understand it."

JUMP IN POT-RELATED DETOX

The number of children and teen-agers in treatment for marijuana dependence and abuse has jumped 142 percent since 1992, the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University reported in April.

According to the report, children and teens are three times more likely to be in treatment for marijuana abuse than for alcohol, and six times likelier to be in treatment for marijuana than for all other illegal drugs combined.

And it found the age of youths using marijuana is falling. The teens aged 12 to 17 said on average they started trying marijuana at 13-1/2. The same survey found that adults aged 18 to 25 had first tried it at 16.

For National Institute on Drug Abuse director Dr. Nora Volkow the final straw was a report her institute published in May in the Journal of the American Medical Association (news - web sites) showing the steady growth in the potency of cannabis seized in raids.

According to the University of Mississippi's Marijuana Potency Project, average levels of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, rose steadily from 3.5 percent in 1988 to more than 7 percent in 2003.

Volkow said many studies have shown the brain has its own so-called endogenous cannabinoids. These molecules are similar in structure to the active ingredients in marijuana and are involved in a range of activities and emotions ranging from eye function to pain regulation and anxiety.

GETTING INTO THE BRAIN

Brain cells have receptors -- molecular doorways -- designed specifically to interact with these cannabinoids.

The cannabinoids in marijuana may use these ready-made doorways into brain cells and this is why they cause a high and reduce pain sensations. But Volkow believes the effects may go beyond the general feeling of well-being that most marijuana users seek.

"I would predict that stronger pot makes the brain less likely to respond to endogenous cannabinoids," Volkow said in an interview. The effects could be especially marked in young brains still growing and learning how to respond to stimuli, she said.

While the research so far is inconclusive, Volkow believes that cannabinoids affect the developing brain and that stronger pot, combined with earlier use, could make children and teens anxious, unmotivated or perhaps even psychotic.

As an analogy, Volkow said opiate addicts are more sensitive to pain, as their overuse of drugs have raised the threshold at which the body responds and their own bodies produce fewer natural opiates.

NIDA is seeking proposals from researchers who want to investigate such possibilities for cannabis, she said.

Proponents of legalizing marijuana disagree with the official line. Krissy Oechslin of the Marijuana Policy Project disputes the finding that cannabis products are stronger.

"They make it sound like the THC levels in marijuana were almost nonexistent, but no one would have smoked it then if that was true," she said.

"And there's evidence that the stronger the THC, the less of it a person smokes. I don't want to say it's good for you, but I'll say (more potent marijuana) is less bad for you."

While Walters stresses that drug abusers are patients and not criminals, he hopes to crack down more on producers. And he says, there is a way to go in getting cooperation from local law enforcement officials. "For many in enforcement, marijuana is still 'kiddie dope'," Walters said.

Walters is quick to stress he does not want to overreact.

"We shouldn't be victims of reefer madness," he said, referring to the 1930s propaganda film "Reefer Madness" that became a 1970s cult classic for its over-the-top scenes of marijuana turning teens into homicidal maniacs.

IntrepidS Reviewed by IntrepidS on 07-20-2004. Have you seen this? http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=572&e=14&u=/nm/health_marijuana_dc WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Alarmed by reports that marijuana is becoming more potent than ever and that children are trying it at younger and younger ages, U.S. officials are changing their drug policies. Pot is no longer the gentle weed of the 1960s and may pose a greater threat than cocaine or even heroin because so many more people use it. So officials at the National Institutes of Health (news - web sites) Rating: 5

[clevemire]

Leave it up to the damn teens that have to be 'so cool'. They keep getting caught and getting in trouble, and thus they make pot smoking look all negative. Just makes it more difficult for the responsible individuals...

[Dope Chic]

JUMP IN POT-RELATED DETOX

The number of children and teen-agers in treatment for marijuana dependence and abuse has jumped 142 percent since 1992, the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University reported in April.

According to the report, children and teens are three times more likely to be in treatment for marijuana abuse than for alcohol, and six times likelier to be in treatment for marijuana than for all other illegal drugs combined.

I was one of the kids that made up that statistic. I was put in rehab for 92 days (the longest time that they could hold me there) for pot and alcohol. I was put on proby for a non drug related offense and my UA came up positive for pot, my PO was looking for a reason to take me away from my "bad friends"...so off to rehab I went. My counselors said that I didn't need to be there, that I didn't have a serious problem...but my PO made them keep me A lot of the kids there were in the same situation...didn't need to be there, but it removed them from whatever situation was at home. The "powers that be" just want to spend tax payers $ for rehab that %90 of the kids that are put there, don't need. Heaven forbid that I should toke a joint at 15 yrs old...label me an addict and throw me in rehab...sure, that'll make me quit.
Out of those "bad friends" that I was taken away from, I married one and am still in contact with all but one, who sadly died 3 years ago of heart conmplications. They have been the best friends anyone could ask for...but according to my PO they were the scum of the earth and they all should've been in prison. Shows how much she knew.

[wraith28]

ok dam it thats sum bull mutha fuckin shit im 15 ive been smokein pot since i was 13 and i have not failed or gottin below a d on a report card and also i was thinkin that it says that ur brain has the receptors for cannabinoids or watever biult in so that must mean u were meant to use it so fuck u gov officials and ur bullshit ....thats the shit that pisses me offf
ne way well i was probation and i heard all there shit about son u culd b locked in a group home till ur 20 and al thisshit ..dope chic i know wat ur sayin but luckily i passed my piss test and was of is 3 months

[Dope Chic]

You're lucky wraith...there was no gettin off in a short time for me...it wouldn't have mattered if I'd pissed clean or not. I was on for a year no matter what...it sucked My PO was just lookin for another way to screw me and she got it

[KronicKing]

clene thats not tru im 15 been smokein 2 yrs and havnt been caught by ne 1 but my parents and they dont care i agree that most teens are stupid and get caught but its not always there fault a freind of mine was ratted on and they set up survalence so the only reason he got caught was a nark(who got his ass kicked royaly by myself and several others) so think befor you talk(no hard feelin's tho u are right fer the most part)

[clevemire]

clene thats not tru im 15 been smokein 2 yrs and havnt been caught by ne 1 but my parents and they dont care i agree that most teens are stupid and get caught but its not always there fault a freind of mine was ratted on and they set up survalence so the only reason he got caught was a nark(who got his ass kicked royaly by myself and several others) so think befor you talk(no hard feelin's tho u are right fer the most part)

Sorry King. I was kinda irritated by the whole article. Of course I didn't mean all teens. I'm just hatin on the poseur kids who just do it just to be cool.

[ClassicRockGuitarist]

How Can People Say Its Worse Then The Harder Drugs?

[IntrepidS]

How Can People Say Its Worse Then The Harder Drugs?

Because they're stupid. Even if they aren't, anyone who believes them is. I mean, will I be better off doing Heroin then smoking some harmless bud?

[EnjoyinAToke]

The Truth