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Just what we need, more teenagers hooked on dope...

Medical pot laws result in increased teen drug use

WHITE MOUNTAINS - Experts in Colorado are starting to study the impact medical marijuana has had on teen drug use in their state. Medical marijuana sales are scheduled to begin in April in Arizona. Fifteen states and the District of Columbia now have medical-marijuana programs.

Two recently released national surveys, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the University of Michigan's Monitoring the Future data have shown increases in teen marijuana use, marked by a decreased perception of harm in the drug.

"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."

In Colorado treatment centers, clinicians are treating more and more teens for marijuana addiction since the state legalized marijuana for medicinal use. At the Denver Health Medical Center, treatment referrals have tripled with 83 percent of the teens that smoke pot daily saying they obtained it from a medical marijuana patient.

Demonstrators show their support for the use of medical marijuana, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011 in Las Vegas. About 25 people protested outside the Federal building in response to recent federal raids on dispensaries, cultivators and referral services in Nevada and Michigan. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

This, you see, is makes people want to vote for Ron Paul.

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