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Experts Worry That MMJ Laws Promote Teen Use
Posted by CN Staff on January 01, 2011 at 06:39:33 PT
By John Ingold, The Denver Post
Source: Denver Post
Colorado -- Substance-abuse experts, alarmed by the rapid growth of Colorado's medical-marijuana industry, are intensifying their efforts to study the industry's impact on drug use.The experts say they especially worry that increasingly permissive attitudes surrounding marijuana use might be leading to higher teenage drug use and addiction rates.
That has been an often-voiced concern during debates over medical marijuana in Colorado. But substance-abuse-prevention workers say evidence from their clinics seems to bear it out. And they point to a recent study showing an increase in teenage marijuana use nationwide and a decrease in perceptions of its risk as further evidence of a need to examine the issue."The basic rule with any drug is if the drug becomes more available in the society, there will be more use of the drug," said Thomas Crowley, a University of Colorado psychiatry professor and director of the university's Division of Substance Dependence. "And as use expands, there will be more people who have problems with the drug."At his substance-abuse-treatment clinic for adolescents at Denver Health Medical Center, Christian Thurstone said he has seen hard evidence of the trend. Since the summer of 2009, roughly when Colorado's medical-marijuana boom began, Thurstone said he has seen treatment referrals triple, from five to 15 per month. The large majority of those teens are referred — either by the criminal justice system, social services or other means — because of marijuana, he said.Worried by the increase, Thurstone conducted a survey of 76 kids in his program. Of those, 60 said they knew someone with a medical-marijuana card, and 37 said they have obtained pot from a medical-marijuana patient, though none were patients themselves.What's more, Thurstone said teens who got marijuana from a patient were more likely to report smoking pot daily than those who didn't. About 83 percent of the teens who scored pot from a patient reported daily use, compared with about 56 percent of those who didn't get marijuana from a patient."It looks like it's increasing access," Thurstone said of the state's medical-marijuana program. "It looks like it's making social norms more positive for marijuana. And it looks like it's increasing frequency of use."Thurstone said he intends to apply for federal grant funding to more fully examine the subject.That funding would come from $2 million a year that the National Institute on Drug Abuse set aside late last year to study the effects of medical-marijuana policies on broader drug use and public health. NIDA officials decided to offer the funding after seeing a rapid change in marijuana policies across the country — 15 states and the District of Columbia now have medical-marijuana programs, and California voters vigorously debated a legalization initiative this fall before voting it down.Wilson Compton, the director of NIDA's division of epidemiology, services and prevention research, said very little research has looked at how medical-marijuana policies affect overall marijuana use. Compton said he was surprised to see how openly dispensaries were advertising when he visited Colorado last year on a ski trip."The impact on broad social attitudes and behaviors could be shifted by that kind of media exposure and advertising," he said.Medical-marijuana advocates, meanwhile, say they think the concerns are overblown. Brian Vicente, the executive director of Sensible Colorado, said the issue is "certainly worth looking into" but pointed out that teens nationwide report easy access to pot, whether they live in a medical-marijuana state or not.And Vicente disputed that medical marijuana has made pot more attractive to teens."If anything I think it's less glamorous now because it's viewed as something that your mom or elderly people use," he said.Source: Denver Post (CO)Author: John Ingold, The Denver PostPublished: January 1, 2011Copyright: 2011 The Denver Post CorpWebsite: http://www.denverpost.com/Contact: openforum denverpost.comURL: http://drugsense.org/url/5KK8xjnkCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #16 posted by museman on January 04, 2011 at 09:51:28 PT
bottom line;
For cops, its not only 'legal' to lie, its part of their job description and though its 'illegal' to lie to a cop, (I know, i have a son who has to pay them $2,000 because he did -a new 'feature' in the adjustment of our liberties known as "The Patriot Act") they can lie, lie, and lie some more without even a chance of accountability. And the reason is because the lawyers (who are the judges, DAs, and politicians who run the game) have tweaked the truth and the intention of truth originally composed -at least in potential- in our constitution.Propaganda, and lies, are the only substance to 'law' and enforcement these days. No accountability. And the media has pretty much accepted the Status Quo, and passes all the lies along as if they were doing us a public service!Bottom line is that the major percentage of real criminals; liars, thieves, earth rapers, war mongers, and humanity exploiters, are all IN THE GOVERNMENTS of every town, city, state, and country in the world (or in the corporate lords who buy their services). There is no such thing as a 'benevolent state' - in contemporary reality, yet so many go on and on with their willingness to compromise with the truth and allow this travesty to continue relatively unabated. Why? Because they are all worshippers of mammon, and as selfish and uncaring as the day is long.Bottom line is wealth and power, and the only way to get that in a world with no integrity is to lie, cheat, steal, murder, and build walls to keep what is stolen from being taken back by its rightful owners. -Amerika in a nutshell.And that core of amerikan belief and lifestyle is under threat. By truth. Truth will set us free -those who aren't afraid to make the the leap from comfortable bullshit, to the uncomfortable but necessary actions, sacrifices, and stalwartness of living and embracing the truth.When the emperor is revealed (and it has happened) the nakedness cannot be hidden again. The integrity of the honesty and innocence of truth cannot be controlled. This process is under way. Cannabis has been a better leader than anyone (except the ones the powers had murdered so they wouldn't crack the walls of bullshit and let the truth vaporize the 'shadow government' that rules the world) and many who have partaken of its wonderful attributes understand. Better because we are learning the truth about who is who and what is what, even with all the SQAKs trying to put stumbling blocks in they way.Bottom line is that americans are languishing under falseness that will dissipate and disappear, in direct incremental relation to each individuals decisions concerning lies and truth. Believe the lies, get more lies. Believe the truth, and a light begins to grow brighter at the end of the tunnel.Its quite a catch 22 that has been manufactured by our false leaders and overseers. Way too many believe that is is not only somehow 'immoral' or 'socially unacceptable' to question authority -which is why the connotation of 'hippy' (for example) is used so much in attempting to undermine the truth by the SQAKs. The idea that one is an 'expert' or an 'authority' is all bound up in circular 'logic' -like the fact that until the medical efficacy of cannabis was established significantly THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO DEFENCE for a cannabis user, one was simply at the mercy of the false law and its minions.And if any one thinks that cannabis prohibition is the major problem with the usurpers of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, then they damn well better look again!The problem is in the fact that so many bought in and buy in daily to the Status Quo conditions of acceptance.The amerikan religion of materialism has 'em all hooked. Talk about addictions! Imagine the withdrawal the middle class is beginning to taste, as the carrot on the stick gets further and further from their reach.Bottom line is that the time to 'pay the piper' has reached american shores, and as long as the population continues to support the Status Quo gamers and bullshit, the fall of Babylon (which is a belief system as much as it is an actual physical manifestation of a very old and corrupt idea of the 'city' and a false separation of humanity and society from its natural, original state of being of living a normal life on planet earth.If the liars, thieves, and pretenders hadn't hijacked our liberties to begin with, none of us would even have a word for 'freedom' it would simply exist.If they hadn't created the game of war, the concept of 'peace' would have no purchase or contrast to define what it was.If one believes in the power of bullets over truth, they will not stand with us, they will run and duck for cover, and be the first ones to turn their backs as their neighbors are run over by the state.It is unfortunate to note, that all of the real heroes in our history all died for their faith in something higher than than force of arms, but the ugly truth is, that if one is not willing to make the sacrifices that may come, they will not rise to the kind of integrity that all those heroes - like Buddha, Yashua, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., John Lennon -to name a few- manifested in their esteem of the truth, that caused such fear in the insubstantial Status Quo that they had to be taken out of the mix for fear the sheep would look up.Bottom line america, YOU'VE ALL BEEN DUPED! Time to wake up now.LEGALIZE FREEDOM
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Comment #15 posted by Hope on January 03, 2011 at 08:22:41 PT
I have trouble believing this article
and Thurstone."At his substance-abuse-treatment clinic for adolescents at Denver Health Medical Center, Christian Thurstone said he has seen hard evidence of the trend. Since the summer of 2009, roughly when Colorado's medical-marijuana boom began, Thurstone said he has seen treatment referrals triple, from five to 15 per month. The large majority of those teens are referred — either by the criminal justice system, social services or other means — because of marijuana, he said.Worried by the increase, Thurstone conducted a survey of 76 kids in his program. Of those, 60 said they knew someone with a medical-marijuana card, and 37 said they have obtained pot from a medical-marijuana patient, though none were patients themselves.What's more, Thurstone said teens who got marijuana from a patient were more likely to report smoking pot daily than those who didn't. About 83 percent of the teens who scored pot from a patient reported daily use, compared with about 56 percent of those who didn't get marijuana from a patient."I find it extremely difficult to believe so many patients would jeopardize their situation so easily.It's understandable that Thurstone is against medical use and anything that could, even hypothetically, lead, eventually, to fewer "referrals" of "clients" to his business.
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Comment #14 posted by Sinsemilla Jones on January 03, 2011 at 01:27:48 PT
Yeah, Storm Crow, it's legal to drink Draino!
It's okay to take a bath in bleach!No one's the least bit concerned about all the extremely dangerous poisons that are commonly found in the cabinet under the sink and that are perfectly legal for even children to purchase.But we've got to throw adults in prison for years to try to keep kids away from a non-toxic plant.
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Comment #13 posted by afterburner on January 02, 2011 at 22:19:11 PT
They Should Retitle this Article:
"Experts Worry That MJ Laws (Prohibition) Promote Teen Use"and tell the truth for a change about the effect of Prohibition black market on the youth:UnregulatedPushers have significant control of the black marketPeople, and I use the term loosely, with a mix of pills and potionsPeople that don't care if you live or dieKids already know how to tap this party sourceThey don't yet know the damage they're doing to themselvesNot like the dealer with the love grass in his handsWho knows the healing power of the weed Who brings health to all in needWho takes the risk to keep you wellEven in places where all darkness is all aroundconsultations are unofficial - by definition
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Comment #12 posted by John Tyler on January 02, 2011 at 20:12:38 PT
more serious childhood dangers
In all of these articles about protecting the children these experts always find a way to overlook serious injuries to children from assorted sports activities, gymnastics, skateboarding, snowboarding, skiing, etc., etc.
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Comment #11 posted by Storm Crow on January 02, 2011 at 11:56:55 PT
If they were REALLY worried about the kids,
They would be talking about what can be commonly found under the kitchen sink and in garages! (All of these articles are from 2010, so they are reasonably current.)Sniffing Trumps Weed for 12-Year-Olds
Potentially Lethal Inhalants More Commonly Used by 12-Year-Olds than Marijuana, Cocaine and Hallucinogens Combinedhttp://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/03/11/health/main6289221.shtmlInhalants kill brain cells with each use and can easily prove fatal!And putting a lock on the medicine cabinet wouldn't hurt, either! Mom's diet pills and Dad's pain pills can, and do, frequently end up in their kid's hands! CDC survey finds 1 in 5 youths abuse prescription drugshttp://theindependent.com/articles/2010/06/14/news/local/11933411.txtAnd then there's the ex-drug counselor's honest opinion about teen cannabis use- When Your Kid Smokes Pothttp://mensnewsdaily.com/2010/08/08/when-your-kid-smokes-pot/Just where do the priorities of these "substance-abuse experts", lie? They incite fear in parents that their teens will use cannabis (an herb that has never caused a fatal overdose), when REAL dangers to our children lie within our homes, unnoticed by adults, but used by our kids!
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Comment #10 posted by museman on January 02, 2011 at 11:28:56 PT
the problem with experts
Is that they are paid for their 'expertise' -usually by the ones with money, who are usually the ones trying to make sure that no one else enjoys their lifestyles or liberties. If you have to pay for everything, including just hanging out in the woods, only the ones with money get to enjoy the wonders of creation (legally)-everyone else just gets to be a slave, packed together with all the other slaves in the Babylonian-style city-states, breathing polluted air, drinking recycled human waste, and mesmerized by the flat screen."Expertise" was originally based on the skills - that are actually used in application, and usually had to do with a number of years of practice of the skills. We used to call the 'experts' masters at their craft. Now all you have to do is kiss some rich f--kers ass, get a degree in nonsense like 'statistics', write a book no one will read (but get it published by the asses they kiss) and maybe a 'professorship' - so they can justify their useless collection of useless 'information' by trying to convince other up-and-coming wanna-be-experts that the lie is the truth. -and get a degree in it.The real experts have been persecuted, ignored, prosecuted, and denied in EVERY POSSIBLE WAY, while the posers and pretenders claim their BS is the 'truth.' -As if those useless human beings actually knew what the truth was!Their consistent claims about having concern for the children (teens in this case) is all based on criteria of controlled confusion; false information based on tweaked 'statistics' that is charged with fear-based emotion and hypodrama, using connotative wording to elicit that response. Maybes it takes a little more skill to be an acceptable and believable liar, but I'd hardly call them 'experts.'Friggin' disgusting!LEGALIZE FREEDOM
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Comment #9 posted by Sinsemilla Jones on January 01, 2011 at 20:54:29 PT
They never worry about huge national ad campaigns
by big pharmaceutical companies which constantly run television commercials for both prescription and OTC medicines, and the effect those ads might have on underage use of drugs.
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Comment #8 posted by b4daylight on January 01, 2011 at 17:30:29 PT
sidestep
This nothing more than hunting for a reason to ban medicine.
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on January 01, 2011 at 11:22:18 PT
The GCW
It's really hard for me to know when Mapinc. finally gets permission to post complete articles. I have no communication with them except if a problem pops up on CNews and Matt needs to check it out. When I see the articles from previously snipped papers posted on their web site or other web sites I assume it is all ok now.
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Comment #6 posted by The GCW on January 01, 2011 at 10:59:54 PT
FoM,
Yes. I thought the Denver Post articles are snipped. Just looking out for You, in case it was over looked...
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on January 01, 2011 at 10:12:59 PT
The GCW
I'm not sure I understand your question. I had to Snip this paper but I saw they were posting the complete article on Mapinc. so I thought we are allowed to post complete articles now. Is that what you are asking?
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Comment #4 posted by The GCW on January 01, 2011 at 09:43:50 PT
Also about the funding opportunities$$$
The reason there is so much innacurate juk in the article?There is money involved. Jobs, power, funding, "expert" ego's to maintain.ONe thing this story does is help follow the money. -0-It seems a twisted system; first create a need (which may not even be real).Government subsidized discrimination employment project. -0-And by the way, the study becomes obsolete about the time it is complete because that's about when cannabis will be completely legalized. -then the current system of extortion for using cannabis medicinally will end.
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Comment #3 posted by The GCW on January 01, 2011 at 09:28:24 PT
FoM,
Are the Denver Post stories usually only a few paragraphs?-0-This news story is full of issues. In the Post's website ( Webpage: http://www.denverpost.com/news/marijuana/ci_16985232 ) the comments include at least one which shows some of the states with med can laws have lower usage..."""by malcolm kyle on Today, 3:08 am Thurstone appears to know nothing about this subject.Here are some extracts from "MARIJUANA USE BY YOUNG PEOPLE: THE IMPACT OF STATE MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAWS By Karen O???Keefe, Esq. Legislative Analyst Marijuana Policy Project and Mitch Earleywine, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Psychology University at Albany, State University of New York:Overall, the trends in states with medical marijuana laws are slightly more favorable than the trends nationwide. California, Washington, and Colorado have all seen much greater drops in marijuana usage than have occurred nationwide. When states consider proposals to allow the medical use of marijuana under state law, the concern often arises that such laws might ???send the wrong message??? and therefore cause an increase in marijuana use among young people. The available evidence strongly suggests that this hypothesis is incorrect and that enactment of state medical marijuana laws has not increased adolescent marijuana use. Consequently, legislators should evaluate medical marijuana proposals based on their own merits ??? without regard for the speculative and unsupported assertions about the bills sending the ???wrong message.???In California ??? which has the longest-term, most detailed data available ??? the number of ninth graders reporting marijuana use in the last 30 days declined by 47% from 1996 (when the state???s medical marijuana law passed) to 2004. An analysis commissioned by the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs found ???no evidence supporting that the passage of Proposition 215 increased marijuana use during this period.???In Washington state, sixth graders??? current and lifetime marijuana use has dropped by at least 50% since the 1998 enactment of the state???s medical marijuana law. All other surveyed grade levels have seen both lifetime and current marijuana use drop by between 25% and 50%. In Hawaii, youth marijuana use has decreased among all surveyed grade levels ??? by as much as 38% ??? since the 2000 passage of the state???s medical marijuana law.Data from Maine suggest a modest decline since the 1999 passage of its law. Data from Nevada (whose law was passed in 2000) and Alaska (whose law was passed in
1998) show overall decreases in marijuana use, with a modest increase in a few individual grade levels. http://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/sour ... Report.pdf
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Comment #2 posted by runruff on January 01, 2011 at 08:42:43 PT
Happy 1/1/11
John Ignoid is part of the problem. Some of these ignoiids do not get it or are using dumb as an excuse not to get it?Some say we do better with kids when we regulate substances, actually, no we don't. We do better when kids are raised properly by their parents instead of letting the state make our decisions for us and our kids.John Ignoid, your logic and your programs work well to maintain the profit margin of your puppet masters. But it is time in history for you and your like to just shut up, you are embarrassing yourself!
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on January 01, 2011 at 06:41:07 PT
Happy New Year 2011
I hope everyone had a wonderful evening last night.
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