Expert calls for marijuana to be legalised to reduce harm of binge drinking in teens

<div style="margin:0px;"><div style="margin:0px;"><div style="margin:0px;">Expert calls for marijuana to be legalised to reduce harm of binge drinking in teens 

 

Source: ThinkStock

</div></div>THE head of Australia's leading alcohol research body has called for marijuana to be legalised to reduce the harm of drinking.
 

Robin Room, director of the Centre for Alcohol Policy Research, says marijuana should be legalised under strict controls because the social harm associated with it was significantly less than from drinking.
 
"It makes sense to legalise marijuana in a controlled market," he told the Herald Sun yesterday. "We are in a situation where we need to look ahead. I think we need to have the discussion and it makes a lot of sense in terms of, among others, cutting down government costs to have a fairly highly controlled legal (cannabis) market and, while we are at it, tighten up the legal market of alcohol in the same way we tightened up the market of tobacco."
Prof Room, a leading academic at Melbourne University, is funded by the Department of Human Services.
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In an ideal world, Prof Room said teens would not smoke marijuana or drink alcohol to excess.
\nBut if an 18-year-old was going to use substances, he said they would likely land themselves in less trouble after using cannabis rather than bingeing on alcohol.
\nTeens were "better off" on a mixture of booze and marijuana rather than just pure alcohol in social settings, he added. Alcohol was more dangerous than cannabis because it had a closer association with aggression and violence, loss of co-ordination and impacts on work and family life, he said.
\n"Cannabis is not without harm but it's substantially less than alcohol and tobacco in terms of social harm," he said.
\n"If you are adding the cannabis to an equal amount of alcohol, then in some ways you'd be probably less likely to be aggressive but it's a bad idea to add it on if you want to drive a car."
\nProf Room said if marijuana were legalised, among the measures to control the use should be "state sellers" and "state stores" where sales were regulated. It should not be sold in supermarkets nor advertised on TV or at sporting matches.
\nWhile Prof Room acknowledged many people would be "surprised" and even "bothered" by his stance, the statistics backed him up.
\nThe controversial proposal comes as Melbourne continues to battle booze-fuelled violence, and alcohol-related hospital admissions soar for men and women.
aleks.devic@news.com.au
 

 

\tDrug debate out of puff
 
TELLING teenagers they are better off smoking marijuana rather than bingeing on booze is a dangerous message.

Even more so because it comes from the head of the Centre for Alcohol Policy Research.
Professor Robin Room believes late-night violence could be reduced and teens would be less aggressive.
Teens would also be "better off" on a mixture of booze and marijuana rather than just alcohol.
There are several problems with this message. It is complex and easily misunderstood. Many teenage drinkers would simply add marijuana to already heavy alcohol use.
The professor is calling on the Victorian Government to legalise the drug for those over 18 and to tighten up alcohol and tobacco laws.
But those under the age of 18 would be likely to regard this as an excuse for them to do the same.
Prof Room admits smoking marijuana is "not without harm" but says this is "substantially less than that caused by alcohol and tobacco in terms of social harm".
However, heavy marijuana use can cause long-term mental harm and and can lead to the use of harder drugs.
Prof Room's message is an extremely confusing one to pass on to teenagers, even considering his recommendations for a highly controlled market, with those selling marijuana made to comply with strict licensing conditions.
Legalisation of marijuana was widely debated in Victoria in the 1990s when decriminalisation was advocated in the Penington Report.
The report proposed decriminalising the use and cultivation of small amounts of marijuana for personal use.
It was said this would break the nexus between people seeking out drug dealers and being introduced to harder drugs.
But it became obvious decriminalising marijuana did not have broad support and would not pass Parliament.
There is no reason to think public attitudes have changed. In 2013 the message needs to be alcohol in moderation, not putting another harmful substance on top of it.

 

The editorial response to the researchers suggestion tells it all in the first sentence:
 
TELLING teenagers they are better off smoking marijuana rather than bingeing on booze is a dangerous message.
 
Why would telling the truth  be dangerous,,only if you have been making up the harms.

 

First drunk,,17 and in the Army serving in Germany,,got drunk pn potato whisky called Stienheger,,managed to get back to barracks from the roadhouse and spent the night talking to Ralph in his porcelain castle and hungover for two days.,
 
First high,,18 serving in Viet Nam,,sat on sandbags and bayed at the full moon that was so huge I thought it was falling from the sky..slept like a baby and no hangover,,I was sold.