Government Researchers Fear Teen LSD Upsurge
http://newsmax.com/Newsfront/lsd-teenagers-marijuana-use/2009/12/16/id/343464
16 Dec 2009
By: Theodore Kettle
A National Institute on Drug Abuse study showing an alarming rise in
marijuana use by high school students after a decade of decline leads
its chief researcher to warn of the possibility of a new era of teen acid use.
According to University of Michigan researcher Lloyd Johnston,
principal investigator of the latest "Monitoring the Future" study
tracking teen drug use in America since 1975, "while LSD use is at
historically low levels at present, the proportion of students seeing
its use as dangerous has been in decline for a long time … removing a
major obstacle to experimentation."
Johnston cautioned, "We have seen LSD make a comeback before.
Clearly, it could happen again."
The widely-used euphoric drug Ecstasy is another major concern of the
study's authors. "Given the glamorous name and reputation of this
drug, I could easily imagine it making a comeback as younger children
entering their teens become increasingly unaware of its risks," Johnston said.
The percentage of youths seeing "great risk" in trying Ecstasy "has
fallen appreciably and steadily since 2004 (2005, in the case of
12th-graders)," according to the NIDA researchers.
The survey questioned over 46,000 8th, 10th, and 12th graders from
125 schools, its primary finding being that pot use among adolescents
has gradually increased during the last two years (or three years
among 12th-graders) a startling departure after many consecutive
years of declining marijuana smoking. Researchers placed some of the
blame at the feet of drug legalization advocates, whose rhetoric may
be lessening teens' fears of the health dangers of smoking pot.
"When the perception of the danger goes down, in the following years
you see an increase in use," noted Nora Volkow, director of NIDA.
The study comes with the Obama Administration on the defensive on the
issue of marijuana decriminalization. Attorney General Eric Holder's
Justice Department in October instructed U.S. Attorneys not to
enforce federal anti-pot laws in regard to medical marijuana.
After a public uproar, White House drug czar R. Gil Kerlikowske
issued assurances that pot legalization "for any purpose, remains a
non-starter in the Obama Administration."
According to Kerlikowske, "To test the idea of legalizing and taxing
marijuana, we only need to look at already legal drugs alcohol and
tobacco. We know that the taxes collected on these substances pale in
comparison to the social and health care costs related to their
widespread use."
But can the White House resist the temptation to legalize, then tax
such a popular substance? The pot smokers within the president's
political base may see an opportunity. "Clearly, regulation of
tobacco products has worked to curb access by teens, and it's time to
apply those same sensible policies to marijuana," Bruce Mirken, a
spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, told the
Associated Press.
Moreover, NIDA chief researcher Lloyd Johnston took part in a 2001
study touted as showing "conclusively that raising cigarette excise
taxes is one of the most effective policies states can implement to
prevent kids from starting to smoke and taking the steps that lead to
addiction." Taxing cigarettes "protects kids from smoking and raises
much-needed revenue for states facing budget shortfalls that threaten
vital programs," the joint University of Chicago and University of
Michigan analysis found.
With the NIDA study showing teen tobacco use continuing a steep
long-term drop, Johnston this week said higher cigarette taxes could
help continue the trend.
Supporters of pot legalization want President Obama to apply the
exact same logic to marijuana.
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