Increasing Number of Teens Are Smoking Pot

An increasing number of high-schoolers don't see regular use of marijuana as harmful, according to a new survey from government researchers.
Specifically, 39.5 percent of high-school seniors said that regular marijuana use is harmful. That number was 44.1 percent just last year.

In addition, researchers reported that the number of teens smoking marijuana daily has increased over recent years -- today, 6.5 percent of high-school seniors smoke marijuana daily, compared with 2.4 percent in 1993.

"These increases in marijuana use over the past few years are a serious setback in our nation's efforts to raise a healthy generation of young people," Gil Kerlikowske, the director of National Drug Control Policy, said in a statement. "Teens deserve to grow up in an environment where they are prepared to meet the challenges of the 21st century, and drug use never factors into that equation. Today's news demands that all of us recommit to bolstehering the vital role prevention and involved parenting play in keeping young people safe, strong, and ready to succeed."

The findings are based on data from the Monitoring the Future survey, which includes responses from 41,675 eighth, 10th and 12th-graders in the U.S. from 389 public and private schools.

The findings also revealed that 23 percent of high school seniors reported smoking marijuana in the last month before taking the survey, while 36 percent of seniors said they smoked marijuana in the last year. Among 10th graders, 29.8 percent said they used marijuana in the last year, 18 percent said they used it in the last month and 4 percent said they used it daily. Among eighth graders, more than 12 percent said they used marijuana in the last year.

"We should be extremely concerned that 12 percent of 13- to 14-year-olds are using marijuana," Dr. Nora Volkow, M.D., the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said in a statement. "The children whose experimentation leads to regular use are setting themselves up for declines in IQ and diminished ability for success in life."  UCN