With the passing of Measure 2, which will decriminalize adult possession of less than one ounce of marijuana, Massachusetts drug-abuse educators are scrambling to find a new way to get kids to say no to marijuana, the Boston Globe reported Nov. 20.

The state ballot question was passed in November by a margin of 65 percent to 35 percent, and is set to go into effect next January. The law will provoke more "honest and responsible" drug education for the state's children, according to Whitney Taylor, campaign manager of the Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy, which authored the ballot question.

"While this may be a difficult transition, in the end it's a healthier and smarter way to deal with young people. We know that 100 million Americans have admitted using marijuana, yet we have an educational system that says things like 'it will wreck your life,' when they can look around at the people in their lives, like their brothers, sisters, parents and even grandparents, and see that just isn't true," she said.

School health educators and police officers worry about the effects of the new law, however.

"It's going to make my job a lot harder because it perpetuates the myths about marijuana being harmless, which it isn't," said Robert Moro, project director of Ashland's Youth Substance Abuse Prevention Initiative, who said his e-mail inbox has been "filled with chatter about what to tell kids" since the ballot proposal passed.

Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone said he believes more young people in Massachusetts are likely to experiment with marijuana now, because they perceive less risk in doing so. "The focus of prevention education will have to be on the serious and dangerous effects it has on kids," he said.

The Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy is not encouraging young people -- or anyone else -- to smoke marijuana, Taylor said, but rather is seeking an end to harsh criminal penalties for minor offences.

"We should be open and honest with [children] and say, 'It is illegal, it's a drug, it can cause problems and this is what those problems are,'" Taylor said. "To scare them, or tell them 'just say no, because we said so, and you'll go to jail,' just doesn't work."