Back in January, a Wayland Police officer stopped a carful of teenagers for speeding. In the car he found something called “Cheeba Chews;” marijuana-based candies sold in California and Colorado under the guise of medicine. Wrapped in “Tootsie Roll” style wrappers, these powerful chewables consist of the most active ingredient in marijuana — THC — and their taffystyle packaging is conspicuously attractive to kids. This incident is not unique to Wayland — in the past six months, Cheeba Chews in the possession of teenagers have surfaced in several other Massachusetts communities, often times shipped or transported by students from the Commonwealth attending college in a state where marijuana has been legalized as medicine.

Back in January, a Wayland Police officer stopped a carful of teenagers for speeding. In the car he found something called “Cheeba Chews;” marijuana-based candies sold in California and Colorado under the guise of medicine. Wrapped in “Tootsie Roll” style wrappers, these powerful chewables consist of the most active ingredient in marijuana — THC — and their taffystyle packaging is conspicuously attractive to kids. This incident is not unique to Wayland — in the past six months, Cheeba Chews in the possession of teenagers have surfaced in several other Massachusetts communities, often times shipped or transported by students from the Commonwealth attending college in a state where marijuana has been legalized as medicine.

The truth is, marijuana has become more attractive and accessible than ever to our young people. The arrival of Cheeba Chews in Massachusetts presents the very reason why parents and prevention experts from around the Bay State are troubled about efforts from deep pocket outsiders to target Massachusetts to become the next “medical” marijuana haven. Within the year, it is highly plausible that Massachusetts will vote on a ballot question to legalize marijuana as a medicine. Those who know how harmful marijuana is to youth, and that accessibility and acceptability of marijuana promote teen use, understand that medical marijuana dispensaries on street corners throughout the commonwealth will take these two functions of youth pot use to a new level. The bottom line is that it will make it much harder to keep children from using the drug.

Although there is great empathy with those who are ill and/or dying who claim marijuana brings relief, we know Massachusetts would be making a grave mistake and suffer serious unforeseen and unintended consequences if such policy were to pass here. One only has to review the research from Colorado, California, Arizona and other states to learn the pitfalls associated with legalizing marijuana as medicine, and begin to understand the enormous yield of misuse and abuse.

In two independent, peer-reviewed studies released in late 2011, teen marijuana use was significantly higher in medical marijuana states versus non-medical marijuana states. In Colorado where marijuana is legal as a medicine and is distributed through the same type of pot dispensary system now being considered for Massachusetts, 83 percent of teenagers in treatment for daily marijuana use report that marijuana patients are their primary source of the drug. This may not be all that surprising when you consider there are over 125,000 current medicinal marijuana cardholders in Colorado. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment indicates the number of persons between 12 and 25 who used marijuana in the past year in Colorado surpasses the national average by 10 percent. Here in Massachusetts, our youth marijuana rates are already 30 percent above the national average. Do we want that percentage to climb higher?

As marijuana has become abundantly more available and acceptable, youth use rates have increased dramatically among 8th, 10th and 12th graders. In Massachusetts, almost twice as many teens are smoking marijuana compared to cigarettes, and marijuana dependency is the number one reason why kids in Massachusetts go to treatment.

All too often, adult ambivalence regarding marijuana stems from memories of past personal use experiences. Many folks dismiss teen use as a right to passage and/or harmless, casual dawdling. But the research clearly shows that teen marijuana use significantly increases risk of memory loss, learning dysfunction and permanent changes in the brain structure and functioning. Parents need to know that the average THC potency for tested marijuana now surpasses 10 percent compared to 1983 when it was at less than 4 percent. For this reason, marijuana use is sending kids to treatment at rates higher than for all other drugs combined.

According to the National Institute of Health, today’s marijuana causes addiction in one out of every six users who start in adolescence. The younger teens start to use it and the longer they use it, the higher their risk of dependency and psychiatric conditions later on in life. Medical marijuana will further exacerbate this.

Marijuana now accounts for the majority of those who are impaired while driving. This is troubling since researchers including Dr. Bertha Madras of the Harvard Medical School, have confirmed that marijuana impairs motor coordination and sensory perception. In fact, the most exhaustive meta-analysis of marijuana and driving to be released later this year in Epidemiological Reviews concludes, “Marijuana use by drivers is associated with a significantly increased risk of being involved in motor vehicle crashes.” And just last month, the British Medical Journal reported that pot doubles car crash risk.

This is particularly scary when considering the study SADD and Liberty Mutual recently released that indicates nearly one in five teens report having driving while under the influence of marijuana.

Legalizing marijuana as a medicine through the legislative process is being positioned as compassionate care, but in essence, it is bad public health policy. Bypassing the Food and Drug Administration’s rigorous standards of safety, efficacy, consistent dosing and side effect profiling is dangerous precedent that can seriously compromise the integrity and assurances of a medicine and puts the public at risk. It is important that research continue to examine the properties of cannabis that make it an effective pain reliever so that it can be appropriately prescribed. It is also critical that all potential medicines including marijuana-based medicines be subject to America’s FDA approval system to protect the public from fraudulent, dangerous and/or ineffective drugs.

As parents we not only care about our children, we care deeply about the sick and dying.

But “medical” marijuana bears little resemblance to showing compassion for the truly ill. The Massachusetts proposals being discussed designate anywhere from 19 to 35 licensed marijuana dispensaries, which would openly sell the drug to virtually anyone with a self- diagnosed need.

These proposals are similar to the ones in other west coast states. And independent studies tell us that most users of state-based medical marijuana programs do not suffer from chronic, lifethreatening diseases. The average user is a 32-year-old white male with a history of substance abuse and no history of life-threatening illness. For those with a true compassionate need for marijuana, the FDA has made available two marijuana-based pills; other research which would turn marijuana’s helpful ingredients into non-smoked medicines must also be encouraged.

California and Colorado have a lot more to teach us than just what “Cheeba Chews” are.

Their current marijuana climate and experiences serve as a warning for our own state.

Massachusetts’ lawmakers and voters need to carefully examine the lessons learned from other states so that we don’t put our children at risk and seriously compromise Massachusetts’ future generations of citizens.

Heidi Heilman of Weston is chair of the Massachusetts Prevention Alliance (www.mapreventionalliance.org) and director of WaylandCares (www.waylandcares.org).