In a national health survey, 10% of high schoolers reported smoking marijuana at least once in the last 30 days.
In 1997, 21% of high schoolers said that they had smoked a cigarette or cigar on one or more days in the last 30 days. By 2013 however only 7% said that they had smoked a cigarette or cigar on one or more days in the last 30 days, representing a remarkable 64% decrease.
In 1997 only 4% of students said they had used marijuana once or more in the last 30 days. By 2013, that had climbed to a massive 10%.
The authors of the Centers for disease Control and Prevention report said this increase in use was probably at least in part because only 40% of 12th graders now think smoking marijuana regularly is harmful — roughly the same percentage as in the 1970s. Fear of marijuana seemed to peak in 1991, when 79% of 12th graders said regular use was harmful, but it's been declining ever since because its not really that harmful.
Extended massive use of marijuana has known detrimental health effects, including respiratory problems, impaired cognitive function, and the exacerbation of certain mental illnesses. But today scientific evidence is starting to support, in part, teens' changing perceptions. They are fully supporting teens for marijuana.
A certain study published earlier in this year in the journal JAMA Psychiatry found marijuana didn't cause certain regions of the brain to shrink. Research has also shown that the perception of marijuana as a "gateway drug" is largely misguided, and that it is much safer than either alcohol or cigarettes.
The CDC report, asked anywhere from 11,000 to 13,000 students in grades 9 through 12 about their experiences using cigarettes, cigars, or marijuana.
Because the surveys are self-reported, the numbers are much lower than the actual percentage of high schoolers who smoke. They didn't even ask about hookahs or shisha pipes, either, which could also affect the usage of cannabis numbers.
A 17-year-old from Washington state smokes marijuana from a glass bong at the opening day of the pro-marijuana rally Seattle Hempfest. Recreational marijuana use is now legal in the state of Washington.
High schoolers reports using marijuana much more than cigarettes or cigars, according to a report by US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released Oct. 15
