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MONDAY February 23, 2004 - Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels December 16, 2003 Expert gives the straight dope By Bill Choy Ashland Daily Tidings Straight talk about the use of drugs like marijuana, done from a medical standpoint, gave Ashland High School freshmen something to ponder. Tracy Gibbons, 14, takes part in a group discussion with Eric Martin (left) about marijuana's effect. Denise Baratta | Ashland Daily Tidings Eric Martin, M.A., CADC III, executive director of the Addiction Consumer Certification Board of Oregon, and a nationally recognized expert on drug abuse, discussed how the use of marijuana affects the human body to students in freshmen health classes on Monday. Martin also held a public forum for parents and teens Monday night, and continued his discussion at the high school today. Martin, who has 20 years of experience in the addiction treatment field, told a group of students he frequently used marijuana during his teen years, and knows first-hand what it can do to a human body. He's also an instructor at the University of Oregon and an adjunct faculty member at community colleges in the Portland area. After getting in trouble with the law for his marijuana use when he was 19, Martin became interested in the addiction field, he said. Martin said it's important to go to schools and give students scientific information on what happens to the brain and human body when using drugs like marijuana. To Martin, there's very little quality information on marijuana provided by the federal government. That's why it's so imperative to make teens and those in the community aware of the facts regarding marijuana use. "I don't take a position that marijuana is good or evil," Martin said. "I talk about some of the effects. It makes it easier to have an objective discussion free of arguments and talk about the science of marijuana." Freshman Nick Merrill, 15, appreciated the straight talk. "He wasn't like 'it's bad, it's bad,' he left it up to you," Merrill said. "I totally respect that. He made it believable and understandable." In his discussion with a health class Monday afternoon, Martin talked about how most drugs, when they enter the brain, look like chemicals that the brain already produces such as endorphins. He showed how drugs like marijuana can damage brain cells through steady use for a number of years, and how much of the marijuana that is used is not as natural as some people say it is. He also had students get into groups and write down what using marijuana can do to a person's brain. Martin said Ashland is way above the national average in marijuana use according to three surveys, such as the 2002 Ashland Public Schools Drug Use Survey Report. For the Ashland survey, students were asked if they used marijuana in the last 30 days - 39.8 percent of 12th graders said they used marijuana, compared to the national average of 21.5 percent. With 10th-graders in Ashland, 31.7 percent said they used marijuana in the past 30 days, compared to the 17.8 percent national average. Among eighth-graders, 18.8 percent of reported using marijuana in the past 30 days, compared to the 8.3 percent national average. "The Ashland School District is trying to cope with a school population with a high rate of consumption," Martin said. "It's not a problem that's Ashland's alone. Oregon is above the national average." Freshman health teacher Cecily Verloop said Martin's discussion helped clear up misconceptions or questions her students had about marijuana and other drug use. "There's so much information and misconceptions out there," she said. "This gives them good information based on science. He addressed a topic that's highly relevant in our area." DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Site Search: A new improved archive search is coming! Look for it in mid-February! .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - ODOT Road Cams