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It is worth noting that most high school
students think that smoking marijuana regularly constitutes a great risk. However,
as high school students age, they change
their attitudes about marijuana use. Of 8th
graders, 74.3 percent think that smoking
marijuana regularly poses a risk. Amongst
12th graders, that number is 54.8 percent. Additionally, most high school students do not think that it is a problem to
try marijuana once. Only 18.6 percent of
high school seniors see problems associated
with one time marijuana use.
One of the dangers of marijuana is that
it is considered a “gateway” drug. That is,
those who use marijuana are more likely to
move on to “harder” and more dangerous
drugs like heroin and cocoaine. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration (SAMHSA) reports that the
younger someone is when he or she uses
marijuana, the more likely he or she is to
use other drugs when they reach adulthood.
Here’s how some of the
“harder” drugs compare in
terms of use:
Cocaine: 62 percent of adults who had
used marijuana before the age of 15 have
used cocaine at some point during their
lives. For those who had never used marijuana, that number is 0.6 percent.
Heroin: Those who use marijuana in
youth are more likely to use heroin. That
number is 9 percent as compared to 0.1
percent for those who had never used marijuana.
Psychotherapeutic drugs: 53.9 percent
of those who used marijuana before the age
of 15 report that they have also tried to use
psychotherapeutic drugs for non-medical
uses. The rate for those who have not used
marijuana is 5.1 percent.
It is clear that marijuana use can pre-dispose people for substance abuse later in
life.
Even with marijuana use on the decline
in general, it is clear that with 2.1 million
people using marijuana for the first time
each year, this is still an issue.
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abusemagazine.org | Illinois Winter 2014 |
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