A RISK NOT WORTH TAKING

It's not talked about nearly as much, nor, we imagine, is it as
feared as drugs like crystal meth, cocaine, heroin and crack, but
marijuana is alive and well and being bought, sold and distributed in
Sampson and Duplin counties.

Take a look at the statistics: In 2005, nearly 100 people have been
arrested on marijuana-related charges and more than $5 million worth
of the drug have been seized. Perhaps more staggering is that drug
officers say on average between $4 and $5 million in marijuana is
seized nearly every year.

Many, particular the Baby Boomers who grew up trying pot, don't take
the drug as seriously as law enforcement and drug rehab specialists
would like for them to. After all, many 40- and-50-year-olds would
tell you that they smoked more than their fair share of marijuana
without becoming addicted to other more dibilitating drugs.

But ask most any addict and they will likely tell you that they
started with marijuana and, when that didn't satisfy their need any
longer, they moved on to the heavier stuff -- like heroin and
cocaine, crack and eventually meth.

That, perhaps, is what is so frightening about marijuana and the
seeming revival of the drug in our counties.

It is the drug of choice of our teenagers, many who hull out cigars
and fill the shell with marijuna, smoking what they refer to as a
"blunt" to get the high they want.

And, because the demand is up, you can best believe the supply has
also increased.

No one should assume, even if they smoked marijuana as a teenager,
that it isn't dangerous and that it can't lead to serious addiction.
It can, and it will.

Marijuana is illegal, it's dangerous and it leads to an assortment of
other problems for our teens, problems that show up in their
declining atttention span, their frequent mood swings, their
inability to take initiative, their desire to stay in school and
their overall personalities.

In a society where teens are searching for something to hold their
attention, something to make them feel better than the lives some of
them live and something to take them away from the problems they
carry on their slim shoulders, marijuana offers a quick escape, even
if it's short-lived.

Turning our backs to the negative impact marijuana can have on our
children, thinking that smoking a little weed is a better alternative
than taking a drink or snorting cocaine, will only make a growing
problem a much worse one.

But like all the other drugs that frrighten us to death, marijuana
should be taken seriously and should be one of the things we talked
to our children about as they grow older, helping them to understand
that trying that drug can often lead to more serious addictions.

We won't be able to wipe out marijuana use any more than we'll be
able to wipe out the use of other illegal drugs. All we can hope to
do is educate people to the problems and then look to them to make
the wise choices it will take to turn their backs to the use, even if
their friends do it and their peers encourage the use.

Smoking one blunt will lead to another and another and another. Then,
the next thing you know, the occassional joint will become a daily
habit that, when it no longer satisfies, will lead to stronger drugs
and the likelihood of even stronger addictions.

We shouldn't want to risk it. Ever.