More 10th Graders Smoke Marijuana Than Cigarettes
That’s the astonishing finding from the latest Monitoring the Future survey, but strangely, it wasn’t mentioned by White House drug czar John Walters or in the initial news reports. 13.8 percent of 10th graders reported smoking marijuana in the past 30 days, while just 12.3 percent smoked cigarettes. For 8th and 12th grades, cigarette use still narrowly exceeded marijuana, but the gap narrowed to insignificance.
The Associated Press reported, “[T]he White House says the sustained trendline is the key.” Makes sense to me. According to the new survey, current (i.e. past 30 days) marijuana use has nearly doubled among 8th graders since 1991, from 3.2 percent to 5.8 percent, with big increases among 10th and 12th graders, too. During that same period, cigarette use dropped like a rock, with current cigarette smoking dropping from 14.3 percent to 6.8 percent among 8th graders, and dramatic drops in the older grades as well.
Amazingly, Walters touts the new results as proof that his policies are working, saying, “What we see here is a very good trend for the youth of the country.” In fact, what the data show is that prohibition for adults is neither necessary nor effective at reducing use among kids. Last year over 775,000 Americans were arrested for possession of marijuana while zero were arrested for possession of cigarettes.
Legal cigarette vendors are regulated. They can and do face fines or even loss of their license to operate if they sell to kids. Prohibition guarantees we have no such control over marijuana.
Addicts commonly rationalize and excuse destructive behavior rather than recognize that their addiction has gotten out of control. By that standard, John Walters is an addict and his drug is prohibition.
Tagged with: drug czar and marijuana and smoking and tobacco by the author
8 comments
[...] an interesting fact noticed by Bruce Mirken of the Marijuana Policy Project: If a high school sophomore reported smoking [...]
I’ve never even heard of a minor being arrested or fined for having a pack of cigarettes…
[...] Some good solid evidence: More 10th Graders Smoke Marijuana Than Cigarettes [...]
The simple solution LEGALIZE, REGULATE, TAX! This is the only solution Americans will accept.
Give me liberty or give me death!
Cherokee Fred Hussein
What it plainly shows is that “Regulation works where Prohibition fails.” If the same rules that applied to other social intoxicants were aptly applied here, that headline might just be a figment of someone’s imagination!
im in tenth grade and there are much more people who smoke marijuana than 13.8 percent its more like 40% because ive counted up about 8 people in every 20 people, and heck even i smoke marijuana sometimes.
John, thanks for being interested in MPP. I think we need to clarify a couple points: First, the 13.8 percent figure in the survey is an average, so there will naturally be variations from place to place. And it’s only people who say they’ve used marijuana in the last month, not everyone who ever tried it.
I also need to say that while MPP believes marijuana should be legal and regulated for adults, we don’t think it’s for kids. There are several reasons for this, but here’s one you may not know: The brain naturally uses tiny amounts of chemicals similar to marijuana (called endocannabinoids) to regulate mood, memory, pain, appetite — all sorts of important stuff. At your age, your brain is still developing, meaning that system isn’t fully formed yet. Does putting very large amounts of similar chemicals into your system by smoking marijuana affect how that system develops as you finish maturing? The honest answer is that we don’t know for sure — so, even putting aside the legal risk you’re taking, it really is a very, very good idea to wait till your an adult.
*applauds Bruce and the org’s stance on youth drug use*
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