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Show Lung Assoc. offers anti-marijuana teaching kits Teachers of fourth . through seventh grades are invited to obtain a classroom teaching kit. It provides current scientific information in-formation and good teaching outlines. These may be obtained by writing or visiting the headquarters of the American Lung Association of Utah, 1930 S. 1100 East, Salt Lake City, Utah 84106. Office hours are 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. Or further information can be obtained by calling 484-4456. the 11th grade, 38.7 percent of students have used marijuana and 4.5 percent use it on a regular basis. The survey suggests over 40,000 Utah public school students have used marijuana and 5,120 use it regularly (21 or more times per month). It is estimated that 80,000 Utahns under age 25 use grass or pot, as marijuana is called. The American Lung Association says that smoking marijuana is a major threat to American lung health, particularly in the developing lungs of young people. The Christmas Seal people say, "Don't let your lungs go to pot." "If lung damage isn't convincing venough," marijuana is well known for its effect on the mind, producing even permanent changes," says Mr. Steenblik. Altered perceptions of time and space is the cause of automobile accidents. The American Lung Association of Utah has a three-part, state-wide program called Marijuana: A Second Look. 1. Community awareness education to destroy the marijuana myth. 2. Information especially designed for parents, youth leaders and teachers. 3. Classroom education for pre-teens, emphasizing correct information and making the commitment to say no to future invitations to use marijuana. Parents and other adults who want to learn more about how to deal with marijuana are invited to request free educational materials. They describe the marijuana problem and how families cope with it. R. James Steenblik, president of the American Lung Association of Utah, says young people who believe a little marijuana won't hurt, them, put their confidence in a myth. The association is locked into a continuing effort to destroy the myth that marijuana is a mild, harmless substance that produces pleasure without the consequences of smoking tobacco. "The truth is," says Mr. Steenblik, Steen-blik, "marijuana will produce more lung disease in less time and with less exposure than does regular cigarettes." Marijuana is so readily available in schools that nearly every young - person will be faced with the inevitable decision about using marijuana. "We feel the urgency of our effort to help preteens have truth and not a myth as the basis for their decision-making," says Mr. Steenblik. It's hard to change the myth because it has been circulating cir-culating for so many years-. Marijuana has many more cancer-causing chemicals than does regular tobacco. According to Mr. Steenblik, physicians have observed 17-year-old marijuana smokers with precancerous tissue changes in the airways that are equivalent to those seen in 10 and 20 year tobacco smokers. Further, marijuana is smoked in such a manner as to increase the exposure of the smoke in the airways. air-ways. "And since marijuana toxins remain in the body for as long as a month, there is an accumulative effect among those who smoke even small amounts of marijuana on a regular basis," Mr. Steenblik explains. ex-plains. A 1984 Utah school survey reveals marijuana use in the fifth grade. By |
