Marijuana Use UP UP and AWAY!

Well its happend again, Marijuana use is up again for another year after a nearly twenty year decline. A report released today by Drug Free showed that, "more American teens are smoking marijuana, with nearly 1 in 10 lighting up at least 20 or more times a month." 

According to a press release:

•  Past-month use is up 42 percent (up from 19 percent in 2008 to 27 percent in 2011, which translates to about 4 million teens).
• Past-year use is up 26 percent (up from 31 percent in 2008 to 39 percent in 2011, which translates to about 6 million teens).  
• Lifetime use is up 21 percent (up from 39 percent in 2008 to 47 percent in 2011, which translates to nearly 8 million teens).

According to the report this is an upward trend that over the last three years. Marijuana use has not been this high since 1988.  Teens now report seeing more of their peers smoking marijuana and only 26 percent agree with the statement, "in my school, most teens don't smoke marijuana" (down from 37 percent in 2008). Also, 71 percent of teens say they have friends who use marijuana regularly (up from 64 percent in 2008).

Teen past-month "heavy" marijuana users are significantly more likely than teens who have not used marijuana in the past year to:

• use cocaine/crack (30 times more likely)
• use Ecstasy (20 times more likely)
• abuse prescription pain relievers (15 times more likely)
• abuse over-the-counter medicines (14 times more likely)

There is some positive news in the study. It found that one in 10 teens reports using prescription pain medication Vicodin or OxyContin in the past year. That’s down from a peak of 15 percent in 2009 and 14 percent in 2010.

Just more than half of Hispanic teens say they have used an illicit drug, such as Ecstasy or cocaine, in the past year. That compares to 39 percent for white teens and 42 percent for black teens.

The Marijuana Policy Project, which advocates legalization, argues that making pot legal for adults might help cut teen usage.

“We definitely don’t think that minors should be using marijuana any more than they should be drinking or using tobacco, but arresting people for doing that never stops minors,” said Morgan Fox, a spokesman for the group. “If we remove marijuana from the criminal market and have the market run by responsible business people that have an incentive to check IDs and not sell to minors, then we might see those rates drop again.”


The Partnership’s study was sponsored by the MetLife Foundation. Researchers surveyed 3,322 teens in grades 9 to 12 with anonymous questionnaires that the youngsters filled out at school from March to June 2011. The study has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

We are GATE America, do not agree with the statements made by MPP at all. The very nature of this whole matter started when the states started legalizing marijuana. That ambiguity which this has created in young peoples eyes can be the major cause. Look at our post dated on February 8, 2011 about this ver issue. This confusion if the drug, is safe, addicting or dangerous sends the message that maybe it's ok.  The toothpaste is out of the tube, it will be very difficult to put it back!

Needless to say Marijuana use will continue to rise until we truly address this issue.