Teen marijuana use up, alcohol use down

[Strainhunter]

I guess that's a good thing although personally I doubt "10th-graders climbed from 2.8 percent to 3.3 percent".

Seems to me it is more like 30% of 10th graders smoking.

Read the whole story HERE or below in case it gets taken off the news site.

– <abbr title="2010-12-14T07:01:56-0800" class="timedate">Tue Dec 14, 10:01 am ET

</abbr> WASHINGTON – America's teens are using more marijuana and less alcohol, according to an annual government study of eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders across the country.


Some 6.1 percent of high-school seniors reported using marijuana this year, up from 5.2 percent in 2009, according to the Monitoring the Future survey released by the National Institutes of Health.
Marijuana use by 10th-graders climbed from 2.8 percent to 3.3 percent, and for eighth-grade students it edged up from 1.0 percent to 1.2 percent.


"These high rates of marijuana use during the teen and preteen years, when the brain continues to develop, place our young people at particular risk," said Dr. Nora D. Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.


On the other hand, binge drinking is on the decline. While 23.2 percent of high school seniors reported having five or more drinks in a row, that's down from 25.2 percent a year earlier. The binge rate for this age group peaked at 31.5 percent in 1998.


On other topics the survey found:
• Use of ecstasy, which had declined in the early 2000s, is on the increase again.
• There was a small increase in teens injecting heroin, but only among 12th-graders.
• Use of cocaine remained low after declining from levels in the 1980s and 1990s.
The survey conducted by the University of Michigan covered 46,482 students in 396 schools.

 

[Rednick]

We can't have the kids getting stoned!
We need more Ritalin in the supply chain if we are going to compete with China.
They outnumber us 11 to 1, and value education.

 

[mafia]

Half of the students are probably too scared to admit theyre doing these things, so how can these numbers be accurate?

 

[CrumpleZone]

Looks like kids are making smarter choices these days.

Looks like kids are making smarter choices these days.

I can't condone use of any recreational drugs by children. However, if my kids are gonna use behind my back, I would much rather have them using Cannabis than alcohol. Marijuana is safer!

 

[THCforus]

I couldn't have said it better myself Crumplezone. Far more danger and trouble with alcohol in the hands of our young people. If the people running the show could just take their heads out of their sheep asses for just a moment, they would realize that this is good news.
alcohol down, marijuana use up= safer teens.

 

[johnny butt]

Those numbers seem like a small fraction of what students are really doing...

Really, not even 30% of seniors drink and 2-5% smoke...? Man my high school must have been filled with alcho's and potheads... Numbers were more like 60% and 25% for the booze and ganj....

 

[grow nerd]

Yay, more customers.

 

[mean mr.mustard]

Pretty weak figures in my opinion.

High school was a hell of a lot more fun when I went.

A huge percentage (33%) smoked.

Since when is "binge drinking" just five drinks in a row?

Five schwag beers aren't even going to push me into the legal limit.

It sounds like they need to improve on the drinking front too.

What's happening with today's youth?

 

[HippyJohnny]

These studies caused much consternation for the alcohol industry.
Future customers avoiding alcoholism and choose to use pot instead.... how un-american.

Do politicians really not understand a dealer doesn't card, and by turning a dime bag a kid can have money for the weekend?

Oh, and some dealers have a wide assortment of things not just pot.


Hope they don't get caught in the wrong state, or they are on their way to societal marginalization.

 

[grow nerd]

Oh, and some dealers have a wide assortment of things not just pot.

Like what?

Cards?

 

[Yes4Prop215]

Pretty weak figures in my opinion.

High school was a hell of a lot more fun when I went.

A huge percentage (33%) smoked.

Since when is "binge drinking" just five drinks in a row?

Five schwag beers aren't even going to push me into the legal limit.

It sounds like they need to improve on the drinking front too.

What's happening with today's youth?

hahaha good post. i remember kids at my high school would routinely drink up to 24 beers a night...thats binge drinkin! in high school for me a good night was two 40s of mickeys, maybe a sparks to wake me up, and about 5 blunts hahaah....

high school kids were born to get fucked up....they just love partying too much.

i love how this article is such a big shock like "OMG kids are smoking more pot?" idiot americans these kids are probably smarter than last generation...less alcohol use = less crime, violence, DUI, unprotected sex, the list goes on and on and on.

what do high schoolers do when they smke weed? they sit around in someones bedroom playing xbox for hours and then go out and binge eat....wow so dangerous!!

 

[grow nerd]

what do high schoolers do when they smke weed? they sit around in someones bedroom playing xbox for hours and then go out and binge eat....wow so dangerous!!

I love fried Twinkies!

 

[Nugga Boo]

As someone who very recently used to be in highschool... My educated is about 30-40% of 10th graders smoke on a weekly basis and a solid 40-50% monthly. But seniors... its gotta be like 60% lol. Then again I went to a highschool 15min away from Santa Cruz in Nor Cal. Everyone really valued quality dank at my school. My science teacher kept a bottle of visene next to his desk that we could discreetly use in class after lunch.

I feel like I'll touch on drinking for a second too. Tons of kids smoke over drink just because they don't have a ride back to their house and don't want to drive drunk. I'd say thats probably the only limiting factor. Many nights i would show up at my house wasted and my mom would give me a dirty look hand me a bottle of water and tell me to go to bed.

 

[AGrow]

Nice, high school kids pay top dollar for buds muahahaa

 

[jd4083]

Nice, high school kids pay top dollar for buds muahahaa

and they get you a nice sentence too! Make sure to sell to the pregnant teen moms right there on school property to maximize your profit margin.

 

[tonsoffuns419]

well A. alcohol is harder to get than weed. not that it is hard to get, just harder than weed. you know the drug war has failed when i can call 1 person in my phone and 5 minutes later be back home rolling a joint. as a young person i smoked pot before i drank alcohol and honestly i dont even really like alcohol. weed has spoiled me, i get to stay in control, not piss every 5 minutes and i dont look like a jackass when i have smoked to much. there are people who decided that it wasnt a crazy enough night unless they have pissed themselves while they passed out... i think ill pass honestly.

 

[!!!]

Teens don't have much money but there's definitely volume to make up for that.

But a huge portion of the people in the top 3 NY high schools (stuyvesant, bk tech, bx science) smoke. It's unbelievable.

 

[tonsoffuns419]

same way when i lived in Tampa, FL my high school was an A school with people getting full rides to Standford, they smoked weed, and the teachers knew and saw that it wasn't affecting their goals.

 

[mosstrooper]

When i was a kid it was impossible to get weed or hash, so we all abused solvents and sometimes alcohol. Smoking weed is definitely a much less worrying thing.

 

[Strainhunter]

When i was a kid it was impossible to get weed or hash, so we all abused solvents and sometimes alcohol. Smoking weed is definitely a much less worrying thing.

A kid!?!?!?!?!?! :jawdrop: