Marijuana Use Growing Among Teenagers NYTimes / ANAHAD O'CONNOR / 12,14,2011 One out of every 15 high school students smokes marijuana on a near daily basis, a figure that has reached a 30-year peak even as use of alcohol, cigarettes and cocaine among teenagers continues a slow decline, according to a new government report. Jim Wilson/The New York Times The popularity of marijuana, which is now more prevalent among 10th graders than cigarette smoking, reflects what researchers and drug officials say is a growing perception among teenagers that habitual marijuana use carries little risk of harm. That perception, experts say, is fueled at least in part by wider familiarity with and availability of medicinal marijuana. The long-running annual report, called the Monitoring the Future survey and financed by the National Institutes of Health, looked at more than 46,000 students. Over all, about 25 percent of 8th, 10th and 12th graders who took part in the study reported using marijuana in the past year, up from about 21 percent in 2007. R. Gil Kerlikowske, the federal drug czar, said he believed the increasing prevalence of medicinal marijuana was a factor in the uptick. “These last couple years, the amount of attention that's been given to medical marijuana has been huge,†he said. “And when I've done focus groups with high school students in states where medical marijuana is legal, they say, ‘Well, if its called medicine and it's given to patients by caregivers, then that's really the wrong message for us as high school students.'†The report also revealed that a mixture of herbs and chemicals known widely as “spice†or “K2†that mimics the effects of marijuana has quickly gained popularity among teenagers. One in every nine high school seniors reported using it in the past year; most of them also regularly used marijuana. In another sign of the synthetic drug's popularity, poison control centers received 5,741 calls about it through Oct. 31 of this year, almost double the number for all of last year. This was the first year the report asked students about their use of synthetic drugs. Part of the reason synthetic marijuana had become so popular is that until recently, it was sold legally, often as “herbal incense,†in convenience stores and gas stations and on various Web sites. But in March, the Drug Enforcement Administration declared several chemicals in synthetic marijuana Schedule I drugs, banning them for a year. Congress is now considering legislation that would ban the substance permanently. “If you talk to school superintendents and principals, they'll tell you about their concerns that this stuff was being sold a block away from their schools,†said Mr. Kerlikowske. “High school students probably think it's not dangerous. But we know from the calls to hot lines, emergency departments and poison control centers that this stuff really is dangerous. It just really wasn't on parents' radar screens.†While interest in marijuana and synthetic marijuana has climbed, the willingness to try most other drugs has waned. The report found declines in the use of crack, cocaine, over-the-counter cough and cold medicines, sedatives, tranquilizers and prescription drugs like Adderall and the narcotic painkiller Vicodin. Some 1.7 percent of 10th graders and 2.6 percent of 12th graders reported using cocaine in 2011, for example, far fewer than in the 1980s or '90s. About 5 percent of 12th graders reported using ecstasy in 2011, an increase of about 1 percent from the previous year. Heavy drinking among high school students has also fallen over the past 20 years, the report found. From 1991 to 2011, the proportion of 8th graders who reported drinking in the previous 30 days fell by about half, to 13 percent from 25 percent. Among 10th graders, it has fallen by more than a third, to 27 percent from 43 percent, and among 12th graders by about a fourth, to 40 percent from 54 percent. The percentage of students who reported binge drinking fell by a third, to 13.6 percent from 20 percent. About a third of teenagers said they consume energy drinks like Red Bull, with use highest among younger students. Ten percent to 20 percent of high school students reported drinking one or more energy drinks daily, down slightly from 2010.
R. Gil Kerlikowske, the federal drug czar, said he believed the increasing prevalence of medicinal marijuana was a factor in the uptick. “These last couple years, the amount of attention that's been given to medical marijuana has been huge,†he said. “And when I've done focus groups with high school students in states where medical marijuana is legal, they say, ‘Well, if its called medicine and it's given to patients by caregivers, then that's really the wrong message for us as high school students.'†Kerli's not being able to scare people into believing marijuana is not medicine is weighing heavily on him.
Big surprise, they aren't buying the scare tactics anymore. You want to breed smarter children, you have to start feeding them the truth or they'll just find it themselves!
If ever there was proof that the gateway theory was complete bullshit... Marijuana use goes *up*, all other substance abuse goes *down*. Hmm....
1 in 15? At my school it was probably at least 1 in 10. maybe even 1 in 8 I blazed at least once with like half of the kids from my school
wow. statistics fall from using other drugs, and drinking due to the rise in marijuana use. which is harmless compared to those drugs and drinking. and its still illegal. fucking government..
Yeah that's good that the drinking rate went down.. No more drunk stupid ass teenagers breaking shit or having unprotected sex... ... and MORE SESSIONS AND COOL PEOPLE.
These tests are BS. I remember having to take them in high school. They said it was anonymous and all, but you have a lot of kids lying on them because they have a phobia that they'll get caught somehow.
[quote name='"JWest"']If ever there was proof that the gateway theory was complete bullshit... Marijuana use goes *up*, all other substance abuse goes *down*. Hmm....[/quote] Haha didn't even think about that.
Lol I don't know of a single high school student that would ever say that, minus perhaps the school's narc. For all we know, the drug czar just told some kid to read a piece of paper after promising him a free lunch or something...
Because...they aren't fucking stupid. They know what weed really is and that it's not bad. Chew is going up tremendously too. Go complain more about that mainstream conservative media.
Lmao same here, I also knew basically everyone not just weed smokers agreed it should be legal. For real though most kids probably won't admit they smoke weed on those but I knew so many kids that blazed in HS. ^Chew in the midwest is going up too I knew so many kids who chewed.
Good. Kids will realize how shitty everything else is (alcohol, coke, Rx drugs, etc), and find out that weed is all ya need. Seriously though, these prohibitionists tend to think high school kids are these gullible, malleable, monkey see monkey do's. But really, alot of teenagers have the ability to question and think for themselves. Lets face it: bullshit, no matter how good, is always able to be sensed. Infact, DARE, even when I was 11, never sunk into me. Seemed like a bunch of overzealous radicals, to be honest. I believe most kids will see the truth.
i live in Oregon, at my high school almost everyone smokes weed, out of about 200 people i know at my school, i only know about 10 people who dont smoke. when i say almost everyone i mean it, to the jocks, stoners (of course) to the nerdy kids. i have even met a couple of really chill teachers who have told me they smoke. even my friends at other high schools says everyone smokes weed at there school. i dont know if its just oregon, but the way i see it, is that teenage marijuana use is defiantly increasing. (unless its always been like that)
the healing of the nations the only true negative consequences of marijuana, are caused by its prohibition. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ybE5Kklan8[/ame]