Monday we brought you the latest figures from the Monitoring the Future survey which showed that for the first time in the 8th, 10th, & 12th grade, more kids are smoking marijuana than cigarettes. This is due to a dramatic drop in teen use of tobacco, coupled with a slight increase in teen use of marijuana. Teen use of other drugs has fallen for every illegal substance surveyed but marijuana, so naturally the reefer mad prohibitionists are spinning the data as evidence that the marijuana law reform debate is seducing our children!
(WHSV Virginia) A recently released survey suggests teenagers are smoking more marijuana. Some experts believe that could be because of the increased use of medical marijuana or the fact that it’s readily available.
Like cigarettes, marijuana, commonly referred to as weed or pot, is a gateway drug.
Now I can point you to the surveys showing that teen use of marijuana declined following passage of medical marijuana in each state that did so, at a rate greater than the national average. The slight uptick over the past two years still doesn’t counter the fact the teen use is far lower now than before California passed Prop 215 in 1996.
But it may be easier to just use their own reefer madness against them. You say marijuana is a “gateway drug”, yet teen use of all drugs except marijuana has gone down. So how, exactly, is that gateway working? Seems to me that some may be switching to marijuana instead of other harmful drugs.
(Injury Board Blog, Lansing, MI) In the survey of 47,097 students, the researchers found that cigarette smoking, binge drinking, and methamphetamine use are down. However, the news on increased marijuana use is discouraging. Furthermore, despite the fact that marijuana is the most popular drug amongst teenagers, the researchers still found an increase in prescription drug abuse in the students, particularly Vicodin and Oxycontin.
So, then, is marijuana use the gateway to legal drugs like Vicodin and Oxycontin? I doubt it, since teens are informed enough to know that those drugs flush through your system quickly and won’t endanger their spot on the football team, chess club, or student loan application from a random drug test, unlike marijuana. I think the gateway to prescription drug abuse is parents that don’t strictly control the access to their prescriptions. Parents that will lock the liquor cabinet in the kitchen to protect their kids often don’t consider locking the medicine cabinet in the bathroom.
White House drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske, attributes the increase in marijuana use to a lack of education about the dangers of smoking pot. He believes that the alarming trend emphasizes the greater need for parents and authorities to increase anti-marijuana campaigns.
Well, of course he does. Here’s the problem: the last anti-marijuana campaigns you guys tried backfired and caused more teens to want to try marijuana! Here’s another problem: smoking pot just isn’t all that dangerous. It’s not harmless – no mind-altering substance is – but you’re not going to overdose, you’re not going to have major withdrawal, you’re not going to get sick and puke, you’re not going to steal to feed your habit, you’re not going to become belligerent and harm others, you’re not going to fry your brain, you’re not going to be poisoning your liver, and you’re not going to get cancer.
If you want to reduce teen marijuana use, as we do, you can’t rely on lies and scaremongering in the age of “the Google”. Tell a kid that the joint you found in his pocket means a one-way ticket to being an unemployed cancer-ridden heroin junkie and three clicks on a computer will make you a liar. Then when you need to tell him or her about the real dangers of other drugs you have no credibility.
(Marietta Times) Warren High School sophomore Tylar Kinkade, 16, said she has encountered teen drug and alcohol use since she started high school. The national study indicates about a third of all high school students have used marijuana within the past year.
Kinkade said on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the most dangerous, alcohol would be about a three, marijuana a five and prescription drugs would score a nine.
“We’re taught that all drugs are bad, but when it comes to danger, I think most of us think some are more dangerous than others,” she said.
And based on what you’ve been taught, Tylar, it seems you’d feel safer drinking at a house party than smoking a joint. Teens just like you die every year from binge drinking at parties, but never from smoking a joint, and the “all drugs are bad” education you’ve received is going to lead you to more dangerous choices. (By the way, I’d give marijuana a 2, prescription drugs a 7, and alcohol an 8.)
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Frankly, as a mom, my first reaction to that study was, “Thank God.” Maybe this generation will have a chance!
Modify the above:
“Tell a kid that the joint you found in his pocket means a one-way ticket to being an unemployed cancer-ridden heroin junkie and three clicks on a computer will make you a liar. Then when you need to tell him or her about the real dangers of other drugs you have no credibility.”
to read:
“Tell a kid that the joint you found in his pocket means a one-way ticket to being an unemployed cancer-ridden heroin junkie and three clicks on a computer will make you a liar and/or fool. Then when you need to tell him or her about the real dangers of other drugs you, quite rightfully, have no credibility.” Thankfully, upcoming generations are naturally attuned to detecting and debunking lies and propaganda, sorting out misunderstandings and anxieties, and facing fears that have bound their parents.