PLEASE SAVE OUR KIDS FROM DOPE

JENNY Downing has lost one son to the mental illness brought on by
marijuana and almost lost another. Now she wants John Howard and
other parents to learn from the mistake she made of letting the drug
into her family.

Mrs Downing, who lives in the South Australian country town of
Maitland, watched as her sons Ben and Tim descended into chronic
marijuana abuse, losing touch with their family - and reality - for
more than 10 years.

Both edged towards mental illness before Ben managed to kick the
addiction. His older brother Tim - the stronger-willed of the two -
is lost to the family, full of suspicion and paranoia.

"At the outset, the drug appears to work for them, helping them work
and study better, be more creative, more relaxed, and socially at
ease," she writes to the Prime Minister in a letter.

"Then, after regular use from six months to two years, depending on
the age of the user and the potency of the drug, the drug turns on
them and causes a form of psychosis."

Mrs Downing told The Weekend Australian she spent this time
"stumbling in the dark".

"I want other parents to know the warning signs," she said. "If you
take a step back and admit that marijuana is the beginning of mental
illness, we can make a difference if we intervene."

Ben, 31, said he started smoking at the age of 14 because of "peer
pressure and curiosity".

Later he would blame his morose outbursts on the death of his father
from colon cancer when he was 11 years old.

Soon he was given an ultimatum by his mother and stepfather.

"He could choose marijuana or he could choose a stable family life,"
Mrs Downing said. "He chose marijuana."

She vividly remembers Ben leaving the family home in Maitland, on the
Yorke Peninsula.

"I will never forget the day he walked up our drive and into never,
never land."

She said Ben was influenced by his older brother Tim's domineering
personality, but eventually got psychiatric help and started making
decisions that were good for him. "He stayed an adolescent for 10
years but now he is up and running."

She thought Tim, 34, had a job dismembering chickens at a factory in
Adelaide. But she could not be sure.

Mrs Downing has seen the human side to mounting research showing a
link between marijuana use and mental health problems, as reported in
The Australian in the past month.