Minister, the Hon. Quinton Edness. He claims that the message marijuana is harmful IS getting through to youngsters.

And a drug counsellor, responding to what two young marijuana users told The Royal Gazette earlier this week, said yesterday that kids who use the drug become "lost souls''.

College lecturer Mr. Walton Brown said the results of his survey showed most high school students believed smoking marijuana was bad for them.

"When asked specifically about marijuana, close to one third of the student population did not believe it was a serious health threat,'' Mr. Brown said.

"That's not a big number in terms of the whole student population.'' Addiction Services coordinator and counsellor Mr. Bryant Richards said he too believes the anti-drug message is getting through to the majority of youngsters.

But the two unemployed youngsters who spoke to the Gazette and who have been smoking marijuana since the age of 14, said they and their friends were not convinced marijuana was harmful -- in spite of the many anti-drug ads appearing on television and the drug education they got in schools. They spoke on condition their names were not used.

Agreeing with what they said, Health Minister the Hon. Quinton Edness said he had spoken to "many young people'' who did not think marijuana was bad for them.

He said it was worrying that marijuana was the "drug of choice'' of Bermuda's youngsters and the message it was harmful was "just not getting through''.

Mr. Richards said he was "very concerned'' the two teenagers did not think marijuana use led to cocaine and other harder drugs.

"I can see for myself from people coming through these doors that it does,'' he said. "Marijuana is what we call a gateway drug.'' Mr. Richards said he also disagreed with the young men that there was no evidence marijuana was harmful.

"A lot of kids I see who use marijuana on a daily basis are lost souls who can't keep down jobs and don't have any money in the bank,'' he said.

Mr. Edness, whose Ministry plans to put out more information on the ills of marijuana, believes the reason many young people do not think marijuana is harmful is because its effects are not immediately noticeable.

"It's a slow, gradual process which makes one lazy and not want to get up in the morning,'' he said.

He noted that stockpiling of the drug's chemicals in a user's body could eventually lead to diseases such as cancer and cause heart attacks.