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Show Thursday, May 9, 1996 THE DAILY HERALD,Provo, Utsh — Page FS ‘Modern’ marijuana far more dangerous Hosea a than its predecessors By RICHARD KEIL Associated Press Writer is much more potent today than it used to be, say experts, who hope that parents realize this and will caution their teens against using it. Too many parents feel uncom- much more dangerous drug than there was in the 1960s and the 1970s,”’ Leshner said. Califano, who heads a sub stance abuse research center at ColumbiaUniversity, alsoreleased a study suggesting that the younger a child experiments with with their teen-agers — child will try cocaine and other ward subject tougherto talk about, comes amid growing concern that drug use among teen-agers is increasing. Last year, for example. the National Institute for Drug Control Policy reported that the percentage WASHINGTON — Marijuana fortabie about discussing drug-use marijuana, the more likely that because in some cases feelings of harder drugs. The release of Califano’s study hypocrisy make an already awka Senate panel was toid recently. “There's no question that parents are ambivalent, and finding it : more difficult to talk about mari- : juana use with their kids,” Joseph Califano, a former Health, Education and Welfare secretary, said after appearing before the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control. “But this is important, because the drug is much different today.” Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, the panel’s ranking Democrat, said parents need to realize that today’s marijuana is far more potent than the marijuana that was pervasive on college campuses in the 1960s and 1970s. “It’s like comparing the buckshot in a shotgun shell to a laserguided missile — they're different,” Biden said. “It’s much more dangerousto their children than it was to them.” The amountofthe active i redient in marijuana, TH grown from 1 percent to + percent over the past two decades. said Alan Leshner, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. But even more troublesome. he said, is the current practice oflacing marijuana with cocaine or other drugs. “When you factor in that peo ple are adulterating it. the net effect is that you actually have a of eighth-graders using drugs has climbed from I1 percent to 21 percent since 1991 Califano’s study also makes clear, however, that drug use has not returned to the high-water markofthe late 1970s, when more than 50percent of the seniors surveyed used drugs. The study examined the druguse habits of 13,000 individuals whoparticipated in a Youth Risk Behavior Survey over an 18month period for the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention Amongthe findings —Achild who uses marijuana before age 12 is 79 times more likely to go on to use cocaine, heroin or other drugs than someone who never smokes marijuana. upholstered & — accentf urmiture’ —Among marijuana users, 12 those who smokeit before are 42 times likelier to use other drugs than those who are 16 or older whenthey first use marijua- 2 days only na “With these findings, the verdict is clear — marijuana stands convicted beyond a reasonable doubt of being a ‘gateway drug.” Califanosaid Manufacturers warn Saturday & Sunday of mixing AIDS drugs By LINDA &. JOHNSON Associated Press Writer TRENTON, NJ. — Some AIDS patients are risking their health by taking an untested com bination of two new drugs and should wait for the results of tests aimed at finding a safe combined dose. the manufacturers said. “The message is, don’t dothis on your own. Wait till more data’s available,” Hoffmann-LaRoche spokesman Daniel Berman said recently, Saquinavir and ritonavir are part of a new class of drugs that inhibit protease, an enzyme needed in the reproduction of the AIDS virus. Hoffmann-LaRoche makes Invirase, the brand name for saquinavir, which was approved for sale by the Food and Drug Administration in December. The other drug, sold as Norvir, was approved for sale in March. It is made by Abbott Laboratories Both drugs are approved to be taken in combination with older AIDS drugs, which targeta different enzyme. “People are experimenting with the full dose of both drugs, not knowing the danger (of doing so) or what the optimal dosage is,” said Jules Levin, founder of the National AIDS Treatment Advocacy Project in New York There have been some very negative experiences with this combination,” he said, including a couple of Philadelphia patients who were hospitalized after bad reactions to the full dose of both drugs. The drugs’ manutacturers have notified dozens of AIDS specialists who worked on humantesting of the drugs not to combine them until new tnals determine a safe combined dosage. Bermansaid. Preliminary results are to be reported in July at the [1th International Conference on AIDS in Vancouver, British Columbia Two weeks after ritonavir was approved, the FDAcleareda third protease inhibitor made by Merck & Co. Indinavir, selling under the brand name Crixivan, appears to obliterate most of the HIVvirus in a patient’s blood, although the deadly virus lurks elsewhere in the body All three drugs cost: several thousands of dollars a year Feds concerned about ephedrine supplements By LAURAN NEERGAARD Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON — It’s billed as a “natural” stimulantthat gives the same euphoriaas illegal drugs, sold in health food stores and mixedinto fruit drinks on California beaches. keted mostly to young people. The FDAdiscovered 15 people who diedafter taking ephedrinecontaining supplements and has received almost 400 other reports of side effects, Now it is collect evidence, including corone' reports, in an effort to take regula- tory action against manufacturers. Nowthe governmentistelling Herbal Ecstacy manufacturer young peopie to steerclear ofcer- Global World Media Corp. of tain dietary supplements that con- Venice, Calif, did not return teletain ephedrine. saying they can phone calls seeking comment cause heart attacks, seizures, even psychosis. And the recent consumer warning is just a first step — the Food and Drug Administration is preparing to crack down on the s piements are “‘recreational, steet drug-like products that are masquerading as dietary nts,” said FDA Commissioner David Kessler, who investigated when the relatives of a 20year-old who died questioned him about. ephedrine. “I believe they’re drugs and should be treated as such,”said Kessler. The FDA warned consumers not to buy or use certain ephedrine-containing supplements, such as Herbal Ecstacy, that But an industry trade groupnoted that the FDA warning does not target. ephedrine-containing supplements used to help people lose weight “There are legitimate uses of ephedra, which are different from the drug-type, drug-mocking uses that FDA is concemed about,” said Annette Dickinson of the Council for Responsible Nutrition, “The responsible part of the industry is as anxious as the FDA to get this resolved.” Ephedrine, an amphetamine- like stimulant, long has been controversial. It is an ingredient in certain nonprescription asthma medicines, although the FDA proposed taking promise euphoria, heightened sex- recently ual awareness and enhanced ath- ephedrine out of those products etic . They're miar- becauseofits risks. 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