Pubdate: Sun, 22 Dec 2013
Source: Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ)
Copyright: 2013 USA Today
Contact: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/sendaletter.html
Website: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/24
Author: Donna Leinwand Leger, USA Today

TEENS SHUN SYNTHETIC POT FOR THE REAL THING

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 
students in three grades found.

The number of high school seniors who said they used the synthetic 
drugs dropped sharply from 11 percent in 2012 to 8 percent in 2013, 
according to the Monitoring the Future survey, released Wednesday. 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, 1 in 15 
seniors reported using marijuana daily, up from 1 in 50 in 1993, the 
survey found.

Teen marijuana use began increasing in 2008 after a decade of 
decline. About 40 percent of high school seniors see smoking 
marijuana as risky, down from 44 percent last year and 75 percent 
nearly two decades ago. Historically, when teens perceive marijuana 
as safe, use rises, lead researcher Lloyd Johnston said.

"Young people are getting the wrong message from the medical 
marijuana and legalization campaigns," said Gil Kerlikowske, director 
of National Drug Control Policy. "If it's continued to be talked 
about as a benign substance that has no ill effects, we're doing a 
great disservice to young people by giving them that message."

About 1 in 4 seniors reported smoking marijuana in the month before 
taking the survey, and 36 percent reported smoking in the past year. 
Among sophomores, 30 percent had smoked in the past year and 18 
percent in the past month and 4 percent daily. About 12 percent of 
eighth-graders smoked marijuana in the past year.

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.

"But 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 percent said they had used drugs 
in the past year. Thirty-two percent of 10th-graders and 40 percent 
of 12th-graders reported using drugs during the past year. The most 
popular drug is marijuana.
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