Therefore, a reduction in marijuana use will contribute to a long-term reduction in use of other drugs by reducing the subsequent initiation of other drugs.

As we look at reducing the demand for drugs we must realize that drug prevention is a youth issue and children should be the focus of prevention.   Statistics show that if we can prevent a child from using drugs through high school, they will have a 95% chance of never taking drugs.  I believe in prevention and that stopping drug abuse before it ever starts helps to ensure that our children don’t go down the dark path of substance abuse.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Monitoring the Future National Results on Adolescent Drug Use, Marijuana use to drive the overall illicit drug index because it is by far the most prevalent of the illicit drugs. Therefore, marijuana shows a very similar pattern of change to that for any illicit drug use.
Also the National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that marijuana is addictive. 

Each year, more teens enter treatment with a primary diagnosis of marijuana dependence than for all other illicit drugs combined.  Sixty percent of teens admitted to drug treatment cite marijuana as their primary substance of abuse.

Research also shows that marijuana use is three times more likely to lead to dependence among adolescents than among adults and that the earlier kids start using marijuana, the more likely they are to become dependent on this or other illicit drugs later in life.

As kids see marijuana use as less harmful, and as socially more acceptable, they are more likely to use it.   When our Governor of California says it’s time to start talking about legalizing marijuana, I say it’s time to stop talking about legalizing marijuana and start supporting the youth in our communities. Unfortunately, adults are saying the same for other drugs as well.  How can we expect our children say no when the adults around them are saying yes.

The longitudinal studies of drugs help to illustrate the point that, to a considerable degree, the determinants of use are often specific to the drugs. These determinants include both the perceived benefits and the perceived risks that young people come to associate with each drug.  Unfortunately, word of the supposed benefits of using a drug usually spreads much faster than information about the adverse consequences. The former—supposed benefits of marijuana—take only rumor and a few testimonials, the spread of which has been hastened greatly by the media  It usually takes much longer for the evidence of adverse consequences to cumulate and then be disseminated.

The amount of risk perceived to be associated with using marijuana fell during the rise of its use in the 1970s, and again during the subsequent rise in use in the 1990s. 10th and 12th grades, perceived risk began to decline a year before use began to rise in the upturn of the 1990s, making perceived risk a leading indicator of change in use.

Personal disapproval of marijuana use slipped considerably among 8th graders between 1991 and
1996 and among 10th and 12th graders between 1992 and 1997. For example, the proportions of 8th, 10th, and 12th graders who said that they disapproved of trying marijuana once or twice fell by 17, 21, and 19 percentage points, respectively, over those intervals of increasing use.

Ever since the study began in 1975, between 83% and 90% of seniors each year have said that they could get marijuana fairly easily or very easily if they wanted some. It has been considerably less accessible to younger adolescents. Still, in 2007 nearly two fifths of 8th graders (37%) and more than two thirds of all 10th graders (69%) reported it as being accessible. This compares to 84% for seniors. Therefore, it seems clear that marijuana has remained a highly accessible drug. As marijuana use rose sharply in the early and mid-1990s, reported availability increased as well, perhaps reflecting the fact that more young people had friends who were users.

When we look at prevention there are two indelible truths, that the availability of a drug increases use and that the lowering of perceived risk increases use.  Legalizing marijuana does both.

I believe that the magnitude of the problem demands that PREVENTION is no longer an option, but a necessity if we are to improve the lives of the people in our communities.

I believe that we can no longer stand alone, that we must stand united no matter what your race, religious preference, or economic background or geographic boundaries are; we must stand together.

I believe that we must stand together in this declaration and call to action against the legalization of marijuana