In a survey conducted a year after the Moscone Act (California) was passed reducing penalties for marijuana possession, less than 3 percent of Californians reported that they first tried marijuana within the past year, and only one in eight of this number said they were more willing to try marijuana or use it more often because penalties had been reduced. Use of other major illegal drugs, including heroin, cocaine, amphetamines, and PCP has increased enormously while marijuana use has remained stable or declined slightly. The Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) gathered data on drugs involved in hospital emergency room admissions in 27 metropolitan areas in California from 1980 to 1985. Since the start of the 1980's, there has been a marked increase in emergency room reports involving illegal drugs. According to 1978 through 1986 drug arrest data, felony arrests for heroin and cocaine soared, felony arrests for amphetamines and PCP increased dramatically, and misdemeanor arrests for drugs other than marijuana skyrocketed. The two best statistical indicators of drug use in California, medical and arrest data, show that lowering penalties for marijuana possession did not cause a rise in the use of that drug, while the use of other illegal drugs soared. 2 tables and 3 notes.