Saturday, May 05, 2012
(graphic: seethru.co.uk)
Marijuana has become the most popular substance to smoke among teenagers today, according to a survey by an anti-drug organization.
The Partnership at DrugFree.org found that 27% of teens said they had smoked marijuana within the last month. That’s significantly higher than the percentage of teens—17%—who told the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a 2009 survey that they had smoked cigarettes during the prior month.
The CDC survey also noted that the rate of teen cigarette smoking had fallen since 2000, when the percentage had been 28%.
The study by The Partnership discovered that nearly half of all teenagers (47%) have used marijuana at least once, an increase of 28% since 2008 This contrasted with the CDC poll revealing only 30% had experimented with cigarette smoking at least once. However teens who smoke tobacco regularly still outnumber teens who smoke marijuana regularly.
Officials with The Partnership worry that marijuana has become normalized among teens. They say this because not only have more young people than ever tried it, but also 73% said their friends had used marijuana regularly without concerns over side effects.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
To Learn More:
Study: Pot More Prevalent Among Teens Than Cigarette Smoking (by Stephen Webster, Raw Story)
The Partnership Attitude Tracking Study (Metlife Foundation) (pdf)
For U.S. Teens, Marijuana Up, Alcohol Down (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
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