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| The Chronical Chill out, spark a jay, and enter the chronical. |
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Sep 19, 02
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*Sigh*...the US war on drugs
 WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Illegal drug use is up in teens and young adults, with marijuana being the biggest culprit, according to the 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse released Thursday. The government survey estimates that 16.6 million Americans age 12 or older in 2001 were classified with dependence on or abuse of either alcohol or illicit drugs. Among youths ages 12 to 17, 10.8 percent were current drug users in 2001, compared with 9.7 percent in 2000; for adults ages 18 to 25, use had risen to 18.8 percent from 15.9 percent a year earlier. There were no statistically significant changes in the rates of drug use among adults 26 or older. "One of the most disturbing findings of the survey is that marijuana use has gone up, and the perception is that it is not harmful," said Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson. "My friends, the idea that marijuana is benign is completely inaccurate. It's dangerous in it's own right, it's addictive, and it leads to the use of even more destructive illicit drugs. RESOURCES Read more about the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (Office of National Drug Control Policy) "The hard scientific data about those facts -- that marijuana is damaging to the brain, to motor skills, to the heart and the nervous system, and that it is the first step toward drugs like heroin and cocaine -- are indisputable." His comments came a day after a legislative committee in Canada urged the legalization of marijuana in that country, based in part, it said, on evidence showing that marijuana is less harmful than alcohol and using it does not lead to use of harder drugs. The number of new marijuana users reached a peak in 1976 and 1977 at around 3.2 million, according to the survey. In 2000 the number of new users was estimated at 2.4 million, the survey said. Experts attribute the cause to societal acceptance of marijuana and tolerance among young people. But marijuana itself has also changed. "In the '70s, when people my age were in college, marijuana THC content, the psychoactive ingredient, was under 1 percent," said John Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. "On the streets today it's basically 10 percent. You can get hybrids that are 15, 20, even 30 percent as a result of the changes that have been made with marijuana." The Canadian committee said a THC content of 13 percent would be appropriate for recreational use. The U.S. survey also looked at the use of the synthetic drug Ecstasy, finding that in 2000 an estimated 1.9 million people used it for the first time, up dramatically from 700,000 in 1998. The survey also found that in addition to use of illegal drugs, illegal use of prescription drugs was also on the rise. For instance, the number of people reporting use of the pain reliever OxyContin for non-medical purposes at least once in their lifetime increased fourfold from 1999 to 2001. The rate of alcohol use and the number of drinkers increased between 2000 and 2001. Almost 48.3 percent of Americans age 12 or older, an estimated 109 million, were drinkers in the 2001 survey, up from 46.6 percent, or 104 million. There was some good news regarding new cigarette smokers. "In 1997, roughly 1.1 million young people ages 12 through 17 began the smoking habit. That worked out to about 3,000 every day," Thompson said. "In the year 2000, there were about 750,000 new teenage smokers, almost a 25 percent reduction. Now that's still way too many, but it's a drop of about one-third from just three years before." The government says an emphasis needs to be placed on getting people into treatment. The administration's goal is to reduce drug use by teenagers and adults by 10 percent in two years, and by 25 percent in five years. President Bush has committed $1.6 billion in federal resources over the next five years for treatment and is asking for $3.8 billion from Congress 25% reduction in 5 years?? LOL 
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Sep 20, 02
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US needs the drugs
The us are just worried about not having enough drugs to sell to their country.. A possible shortage like chocolate EG: Opium in Afgan
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Sep 20, 02
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Quote:
Opium/Herion are HUGE in western and southern Asia. Places like Pakistan, Northern India and Afghanistan have HUGE problems with these substances. In many of these parts, workers will often accept heroin or opium at the end of the day instead of money to feed/educate their children. It's quite sad, but interesting to read about if you have time. M
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