Dec 11, 2008
drug czar, marijuana, smoking, tobacco
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.