Cannabis
and Youth
Annie
Bleeker, Community Educator - Manly Drug Education
and Counselling Centre
ref:
March 99 Heroinsight
After years of decline, marijuana use among teenagers
is now climbing rapidly in almost every industrialised
nation. (New Scientist Special Report on Marijuana,
Feb 1998)
It has been demonstrated through many recent Australian
surveys that the use of cannabis by adolescents
has been increasing steadily in the past ten years
(NSW Secondary Schools Survey 1996, Makkal and McAllister,
1997).
Cannabis is one of the first recreational drugs
of choice for many Australian adolescents after
alcohol and tobacco. According to results of the
1996 NSW Secondary Schools Survey, which examined
high school students' use of drugs, by the age of
17, 61 per cent of males and 51 per cent of females
had used cannabis at least once in the previous
week.
So what is this menace called cannabis, marijuana,
pot, dope, mull? Is it the scourge of our youth?
Do we have the makings of a cannabis culture, and
will this in turn create a generation of cannabis
addicts? For a drug and alcohol worker dealing with
young people, I suspect not. However, I believe
a more focused and honest approach to cannabis education
is required if we are to avoid a `marijuana epidemic',
one that focuses on the health, psychological and
legal consequences of use and encourages young people
to develop coping strategies without drugs.
In my experience, the meaning of the drug within
adolescent culture is very different from the stereotypical
`tune in, drop out' type of drug that was used by
older pleasure-seeking hippies in the sixties and
seventies. It seems that the use of cannabis by
young people has been `normalised'.
For many young people, it is seen as a right of
passage into adulthood in much the same way as alcohol.
In fact, for most young people, cannabis is more
accessible than alcohol as it can be bought and
sold on the black market, whereas we have controls
on the purchase and consumption of alcohol. For
some young people this may lead to mild or serious
health and psychological problems later in life.
In the immediate term in NSW and many other States
of Australia, it may also lead to criminal prosecution
which will affect a young person's career options.
For many parents with adolescents, the increase
in young people using cannabis is a cause for concern,
not only because the earlier that cannabis use starts,
the more likely that problems may develop later,
especially with becoming dependant on the drug and
other health, psychological and legal consequences
associated with use, but also because their children's
cannabis use coincides with a crucial stage in adolescent
development when their brains and bodies need all
the help they can get.
The good news for parents is that for most young
people who use cannabis it is usually just a phase
they are going through. Of those who try it only
10 per cent are likely to go on and use it for more
than five years. Most cannabis users discontinue
their use in their mid to late twenties when family
and career responsibilities take hold.
For young people who are likely to say `yes' to
experimenting with drugs, it has been demonstrated
through social research that they tend to learn
more about drugs from their peers: they trust them;
they are cool' and most importantly, they are seen
as credible. In this respect, peer support and education
is a worthwhile strategy to explore with those who
are already using.
Definitely more cannabis education and research
is required. We also need more dialogue with government
on policies affecting youth such as unemployment,
access to education and health care, poverty and
housing. We need to shy away from focusing only
on those sensational aspects of cannabis use and
how it affects the individual. Instead, we need
to look at the cultural and sociological changes
and the context of those changes within a developing
society.
I wish I knew how to encourage and prevent young
people from becoming involved with cannabis when
they are already dealing with so much in adolescence.
In my opinion, `Just say no' and `zero tolerance'
philosophies just create divisions between young
people and adults. Instead of demonising and patronising
young people, we need to listen and talk with them.
And as far as their health and well-being is concerned,
I believe we owe it to them to present them with
the honest truth.
