Pubdate: Wed, 18 Dec 2013
Source: USA Today (US)
Copyright: 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc
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Author: Donna Leinwand Leger

TEENS SHUN SYNTHETIC POT FOR REAL THING

National Survey Shows Fewer View Marijuana As Harmful, Daily Use Up

Teens are shunning synthetic marijuana, such as K2 and Spice, but 
smoking more of the real thing, a national survey of more than 40,000 
children in three grades found.

The number of high school seniors who said they used the synthetic 
drugs dropped sharply from 11% in 2012 to 8% in 2013, the Monitoring 
the Future survey, released today, found. A growing number of teens 
see the drugs as dangerous.

Perceptions of marijuana have slid in the other direction as fewer 
teens see the drug as harmful and more smoke it. In 2013, one in 15 
seniors reported using marijuana daily, up from one in 50 in 1993, 
the survey found.

Monitoring the Future, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse 
(NIDA) and conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan, 
has surveyed high school seniors since 1975. The survey added eighth- 
and 10th-graders in 1991. Investigators surveyed 41,675 students in 
389 public and private schools.

About 40% of high school seniors see smoking marijuana as risky, down 
from 44% last year and 75% nearly two decades ago. Historically, when 
teens perceive marijuana as safe, use rises, lead researcher Lloyd 
Johnston said.

About one in four seniors reported smoking marijuana in the month 
before taking the survey and 36% reported smoking in the past year. 
Among sophomores, 30% had smoked in the past year and 18% in the past 
month and 4% daily. About 12% of eighth-graders smoked marijuana in 
the past year.

NIDA Director Nora Volkow said marijuana use at a young age can alter 
brain development and increase the risk for addiction.

"The children whose experimentation leads to regular use are setting 
themselves up for declines in IQ and diminished ability for success 
in life," Volkow said.

Marijuana's popularity varies over the years for many reasons, said 
Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, 
which favors legalization of the drug.

"It's important to keep in mind that marijuana pales in comparison to 
alcohol, cigarettes, inhalants and pharmaceutical drugs in terms of 
dangers to young people," Nadelmann said. "Indeed, for many young 
people, the worst consequences of marijuana involve arrest for 
marijuana possession, not its consumption."

In 2013, students who reported using illicit drugs rose slightly over 
last year. Among eighth-graders, 15% said they had used drugs in the 
past year. Nearly a third of 10th-graders (32%) and 40% of 
12th-graders reported using drugs during the past year. The most 
popular drug is marijuana.

Synthetic marijuana, made by spraying herbs with chemicals that mimic 
the marijuana, was the second most widely used illicit drug among 
10th- and 12th-graders in 2012 after marijuana, the survey found.
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