The rate at which college and non-college age adults use marijuana — 7.8 percent — is the highest it has been since the early 1980s, according to the latest Monitoring the Future national survey results, released Sept. 8 by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The survey revealed that young people not enrolled in college have higher rates of frequent marijuana use compared with young college students of the same age. Nearly 13 percent of non- college youth participate in daily marijuana use, compared with 4.9 percent of full-time college students.

Frequent recreational marijuana use is shown to decrease cognitive and physical capability for 19- to 22-year-olds. Misinformation about drugs in popular culture contributes to the rise of illicit drug use and risky behavior among young people, according to NIDA. A decline in recognition of the risks of marijuana may also play a role: Only 30 percent of 19- to 22- year-olds saw regular use of marijuana as having a great risk of harm in 2016, which is the lowest rate since 1980.

School personnel can play a role in reducing marijuana use by college students, according to researchers.

“We know from our research and that of others that heavy marijuana use is associated with poor academic performance and noncompletion of college,” said John Schulenberg, PhD, the current principal investigator of the Monitoring the Future follow-up study, in a University of Michigan news release. “Colleges are not simply inheriting this problem from high schools. Marijuana use has remained steady in recent years among the nation’s high school seniors, so this increase among college students suggests it has something to do with college and young adulthood experiences.”

In addition to the marijuana findings, binge drinking remains high among both groups. However, non-college youths binge drink less — 28.7 percent compared with 32.4 percent — than their college counterparts. They also use less Ritalin, at 1.6 percent compared with 2.4 percent, and Adderall at 6.2 percent compared with 9.9 percent, than college students. Cigarette and e- vaporizer use has decreased among both groups.

NIDA called the findings “significant,” as they highlight the potential health and cognitive effects of substance use in the age group.

To address concerns around young adults’ drug and alcohol use, NIDA offers a toolkit to reach college-age young adults. It includes infographics and evidence-based information on drug use to increase awareness of the dangers associated with drugs and alcohol.

“We know from our research and that of others that heavy marijuana use is associated with poor academic performance and noncompletion of college,” said John Schulenberg, PhD,

Shame on you drug pusher.

Shame on you drug pusher.

You just can't stop lying, can you?

Do you think pot, heroin and crack should be illegal? Or are you pushing for them to be legal?

Im right drug pusher and you are lying again.

Im right drug pusher

You really have nothing to offer in a debate other than your repetitive lying about me. But go ahead - keep it up and keep looking like a 12 -year-old.

Do you think pot, heroin and crack should be illegal?

I believe that what we are doing now just isn't working. Other countries have legalized all drugs and with some good results.

It's insane to keep pushing the same policies and expecting different results.

Or are you pushing for them to be legal?

No. I post my opinions which you don't like, too bad.

You'd prefer the Duarte/Philippines approach - kill suspected drug dealers on sight.

Do you think pot, heroin and crack should be illegal?

I believe that what we are doing now just isn't working. Other countries have legalized all drugs and with some good results.

So you don't deny you want heroin legal flooding our streets.

Guess what bozo murder is illegal and we still have murders.

Are you so fucking stupid that you think making drugs illegal will solve every problem

You have mental problems drug pusher/user.

You'd prefer the Duarte/Philippines approach - kill suspected drug dealers on sight.

Little drug pusher Deckard is a liar also.

I would have a small fine for marijuanna use.

People who sell heroin and meth should be arrested, prosecuted for attempted murder and put in jail or executed if anyone dies they sold to.

So you don't deny you want heroin legal flooding our streets.

That is not what I said and besides,we have that now, and your war on drugs has done NOTHING to stop it.

Guess what bozo murder is illegal and we still have murders.

Oh, for Pete's sake - that tired old straw man again?

You have mental problems drug pusher/user.

I don't push drugs and I don't use drugs.

Are you so fucking stupid that you think making drugs illegal will solve every problem

No, I am saying it's something that needs to be considered.

Seems to me you'd rather see drug users killed than helped.

That is not what I said and besides,we have that now, and your war on drugs has done NOTHING to stop it.

First off it is not my war on drugs mr drug pusher.

Secondly every arrest every seizure takes drugs off the street. Which inevitably saves lives.

Well what seems real to you isn't real. Probably the affects of drug use.

Probably the affects of drug use.

Your ignorance is astounding.

I don't use drugs other than caffeine, Red Bull and nicotine.

Make up some more shit why don't you.

Scumbag!

First off it is not my war on drugs

No, of course not. You're just a cheerleader.

No, I am saying it's something that needs to be considered.

You and Tpaine have aruged that it is unconstitutional to make drugs illegal.

Lets see heroin is illegal and it kills people and we try to stop it and offer people treatment.

Trying something else to you is making it legal and seeing what happens. You even said other countries have had success making harmful drugs legal. That is dumb.

Look Deckard I don't really dislike you, in fact I like you. I just like ripping your positions on certain subjects because you are wrong. Ok.

When I call you a drug pusher i'm not saying you are selling drugs to kids or anyone else. I'm just saying you are pushing for legalization of harmful drugs that I see as destroying peoples lives. They just wanted to try it for fun then they get hooked and fuck up their lives. So I would like to see those drugs gone. I know that can't happen completely but we have to try.

Then people like you come around and say its your right to get high and be a waste of flesh. Drugs should be legal and you people who don't want them legal are tyrants and assholes. Well you are wrong Deckard.

You run around saying police state when we have a pretty free country. The police don't harass you like they do in say Mexico or other countries. You take little problems and magnify them and pretend they are the most important thing. Then you dismiss bigger problems like murder and say it's the law. You are kind of like a likable at times doofus.

I don't use drugs other than caffeine, Red Bull and nicotine.

Why should I believe you are telling the truth now when yesterday you lied and said I want to shoot and kill people for lighting up a joint.

When you lie like that people stop believing you.

First off it is not my war on drugs No, of course not. You're just a cheerleader.

I will cheer everytime they arrest a meth, crack or heroin dealer.

Since I cheer for that and you are implying you don't.

Does that mean you get sad and angry when a heroin meth or crack dealer is taken off the street and arrested?

nicotine.

You should try to quit. You would live longer. I was never a smoker but my dad and brothers smoke.

I'm sure you want to quit but find it hard.

Why would you wish harmful drugs more addictive than nicotine to be legalized insuring the suffering of many people.

Question of the day. Are their more cops who kill people or drug overdoses from illegal drugs?

Since over half of the deaths in my area are from drug overdoses it is an easy question to answer.

Other countries have legalized all drugs and with some good results.

You couldn't name one if your life depended on it.

and your war on drugs has done NOTHING to stop it.

Stop? No. But name any crime that has been stopped by a law.

In addition, drug users were to be provided with therapy rather than prison sentences. Research commissioned by the Cato Institute and led by Glenn Greenwald found that in the five years after the start of decriminalization, illegal drug use by teenagers had declined, the rate of HIV infections among drug users had dropped, deaths related to heroin and similar drugs had been cut by more than half, and the number of people seeking treatment for drug addiction had doubled.

However, Peter Reuter, a professor of criminology and public policy at the University of Maryland, College Park, suggests that the heroin usage rates and related deaths may have been due to the cyclical nature of drug epidemics, but conceded that "decriminalization in Portugal has met its central goal. Drug use did not rise."

In 2001, Portugal became the first European country to abolish all criminal penalties for personal drug possession, under Law 30/2000.

The drug policy of Portugal was put in place in 2001, and was legally effective from July 2001. The new law maintained the status of illegality for using or possessing any drug for personal use without authorization.

However, the offense was changed from a criminal one, with prison a possible punishment, to an administrative one if the amount possessed was no more than a ten-day supply of that substance.
-- Wiki

https://libertysflame.com/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=59373&Disp=0#C0

[Thread article]

Title: Despite Legalization, Adolescent Marijuana Use Hits 15-Year Low
Source: Reason
URL Source: https://reason.com/2017/09/07/despite-legalization-adolescent-marijuan/

Published: Jul 9, 2019
Author: Jacob Sullum
Post Date: 2019-07-10 08:01:13 by Deckard
Keywords: None
Views: 57
Comments: 19

Past-month cannabis consumption by 12-to-17-year-olds is down by more than 20 percent since 2002.

Survey data released today indicate that teenagers were less likely to smoke pot last year than at any point since 2002, despite the message supposedly sent by the relaxation of marijuana laws during that period.

In the 2016 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 6.5 percent of 12-to-17-year-olds reported using marijuana during the previous month, down from 8.2 percent in 2002. That 21-percent decline occurred during a period when 20 states and the District of Columbia legalized marijuana for medical use and eight states legalized it for recreational use. Adolescent cannabis consumption is even down since 2014, when state-licensed marijuana shops began serving recreational customers in Colorado and Washington. So far Attorney General Jeff Sessions' fear that legalization would make cannabis more appealing to teenagers has not been borne out.

By contrast, past-month marijuana use has been rising more or less steadily among 18-to-25-year-olds since 2006 and among adults 26 or older since 2011. Last year about 21 percent of the younger group and 7 percent of the older group reported past-month use. There is some evidence that marijuana is substituting for alcohol, since past-month drinking is down 8 percent among 18-to-25-year-olds since 2006 and 3 percent among Americans 26 or older since 2014.

"Critics of legalization worry about the message being sent to youth by marijuana policy reform efforts, but the real message is that marijuana should only be used by responsible adults, and it seems to be sinking in," says Morgan Fox, senior communications manager at the Marijuana Policy Project. "Regulating marijuana for adults reinforces that message and creates effective mechanisms for making it more difficult for teens to obtain marijuana. Marijuana is objectively less harmful than alcohol, and regulation gives adults the legal option to choose the safer substance." (2 images)

[A K A Stone #1]

Daily marijuana use among young people in the U.S. is at the highest rate in 30 years, according to new data.

This report appears to have been released on September 8, 2017.

http://thenationshealth.aphapublications.org/content/47/9/E44

Daily marijuana use increasing among young adults

Emily Weiler

The Nation's Health November/December 2017, 47 (9) E44;

Daily marijuana use among young people in the U.S. is at the highest rate in 30 years, according to new data.

The rate at which college and non-college age adults use marijuana — 7.8 percent — is the highest it has been since the early 1980s, according to the latest Monitoring the Future national survey results, released Sept. 8 by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The survey revealed that young people not enrolled in college have higher rates of frequent marijuana use compared with young college students of the same age. Nearly 13 percent of non-college youth participate in daily marijuana use, compared with 4.9 percent of full-time college students.

[...]

Perhaps the real message is that when obtainment of the substance is only available unlawfully, possession and use remain suppressed. When obtainment of the substance is available lawfully, possession and use increase among all age groups 18 to gramps and granny.

Among all age 12 or over, about 4 million cases of Marijuana Use Disorder were reported, i.e., when someone experienced clinically significant impairment caused by the recurrent use of marijuana, including health problems, persistent or increasing use, and failure to meet major responsibilities at work, school, or home.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2794325/

A DEFINITION OF ADOLESCENCE

Adolescence begins with the onset of physiologically normal puberty, and ends when an adult identity and behaviour are accepted. This period of development corresponds roughly to the period between the ages of 10 and 19 years, which is consistent with the World Health Organization’s definition of adolescence.

The government survey of the thread article was published in September 2017, not yesterday, July 9, 2019.

The government survey does not say that "[s]urvey data released today indicate that teenagers were less likely to smoke pot last year than at any point since 2002."

Persons age 12 or older ranges from age 12 to gramps and granny. Adolescents age 12 to 17, a seperate and distinct category, includes non-teens age 12, and excludes adolescent teens 18-19. Teenagers age 18-19 were in the category 18-25. Data for all teenagers, from 13-19, was not collected in a single category.

The survey data indicated that marijuana use went down among a group aged 12-17, which includes non-teens, and excudes all teens 18-19 directly affected by relaxed state laws. The survey suggests that marijuana use went up among a group aged 18-25, which includes teens directly affected by the relaxed state laws.

Marijuana Use

As noted in the illicit drug use section, an estimated 24.0 million Americans aged 12 or older in 2016 were current users of marijuana (Figure 15). This number of past month marijuana users corresponds to 8.9 percent of the population aged 12 or older (Figure 17). The percentage of people aged 12 or older who were current marijuana users in 2016 was higher than the percentages from 2002 to 2015. This increase in marijuana use among people aged 12 or older reflects the increase in marijuana use by adults aged 26 or older and, to a lesser extent, the increase in marijuana use among young adults aged 18 to 25.

[Figure 17]

Aged 12 to 17

In 2016, 6.5 percent of adolescents aged 12 to 17 were current users of marijuana (Figure 17). This means that approximately 1.6 million adolescents used marijuana in the past month. The percentage of adolescents in 2016 who were current marijuana users was lower than the percentages in most years from 2009 to 2014, but it was similar to the percentage in 2015.

Aged 18 to 25

In 2016, about 1 in 5 young adults aged 18 to 25 (20.8 percent) were current users of marijuana (Figure 17). This means that 7.2 million young adults used marijuana in the past month. The percentage of young adults who were current marijuana users in 2016 was higher than the percentages between 2002 and 2013, but it was similar to the percentages in 2014 and 2015.

Aged 26 or Older

In 2016, 7.2 percent of adults aged 26 or older were current users of marijuana (Figure 17), which represents about 15.2 million adults in this age group. The percentage of adults aged 26 or older who were current marijuana users in 2016 was higher than the percentages in 2002 to 2015.

The chart at Figure 17 indicates for those aged 12-17, use was lower than 2002 in every year since 2002, falling from 8.2% in 2002 to 6.5% in 2016. Little apparent correlation to legalization under state law appears, perhaps because marijuana has never been legalized under state law for minors aged 12-17. Teens aged 18-19, directly affected by the relaxed state laws, are not included in this group.

On the other hand, the same Figure 17 shows that use by those 18-25 rose during that period from 17.3% to 20.8%.

Figure 17 indicated that use by those 26 or older rose from 4.0% to 7.2%.

For the general group, age 12 or older, use rose from 6.2% to 8.9%.

In those age groups where marijuana use was legalized under state law, marijuana use rose significantly, and among those 26 or older use rose by 43%.

There is another section, accompanied by Figure 37, which addressed Marijuana Use Disorder.

Marijuana Use Disorder

Marijuana use disorder occurs when someone experiences clinically significant impairment caused by the recurrent use of marijuana, including health problems, persistent or increasing use, and failure to meet major responsibilities at work, school, or home. NSDUH respondents who used marijuana on 6 or more days in the past 12 months were categorized as having a marijuana use disorder if they met the DSM-IV criteria for either dependence or abuse for marijuana. Dependence and abuse criteria for illicit drugs (including marijuana) were described previously.

Approximately 4.0 million people aged 12 or older in 2016 had a marijuana use disorder in the past year, which represents 1.5 percent of people aged 12 or older (Figure 37). The 2016 percentage of the population aged 12 or older with a marijuana use disorder was lower than the percentages in most years between 2002 and 2010 and was similar to the percentages in 2011 to 2015.

[Figure 37]

Aged 12 to 17

In 2016, 2.3 percent of adolescents aged 12 to 17 had a marijuana use disorder in the past year (Figure 37), or about 584,000 adolescents. The percentage of adolescents with a marijuana use disorder in 2016 was lower than the percentages in 2002 to 2013, but it was similar to the percentages in 2014 and 2015.

Aged 18 to 25

Approximately 1.7 million young adults aged 18 to 25 in 2016 had a marijuana use disorder in the past year, or 5.0 percent of young adults (Figure 37). The percentage of young adults with a marijuana use disorder in 2016 was lower than the percentages in 2002 through 2006, but it was similar to the percentages in most years from 2007 to 2015.

Aged 26 or Older

In 2016, approximately 1.7 million adults aged 26 or older had a marijuana use disorder in the past year, or 0.8 percent of adults in this age group (Figure 37). The 2016 percentage of adults aged 26 or older with a marijuana use disorder was similar to the percentages in all years between 2002 and 2015.

A more recent NIH/NIDA research report is available.

NIH, National Institute on Drug Abuse

This page was last updated June 2018

https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana/what-scope-marijuana-use-in-united-states

What is the scope of marijuana use in the United States?

Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug (22.2 million people have used it in the past month) according to the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.3 Its use is more prevalent among men than women—a gender gap that widened in the years 2007 to 2014.4

Marijuana use is widespread among adolescents and young adults. According to the Monitoring the Future survey—an annual survey of drug use and attitudes among the Nation’s middle and high school students—most measures of marijuana use by 8th, 10th, and 12th graders peaked in the mid-to-late 1990s and then began a period of gradual decline through the mid-2000s before levelling off. Most measures showed some decline again in the past 5 years. Teens’ perceptions of the risks of marijuana use have steadily declined over the past decade, possibly related to increasing public debate about legalizing or loosening restrictions on marijuana for medicinal and recreational use. In 2016, 9.4 percent of 8th graders reported marijuana use in the past year and 5.4 percent in the past month (current use). Among 10th graders, 23.9 percent had used marijuana in the past year and 14.0 percent in the past month. Rates of use among 12th graders were higher still: 35.6 percent had used marijuana during the year prior to the survey and 22.5 percent used in the past month; 6.0 percent said they used marijuana daily or near-daily.5

Medical emergencies possibly related to marijuana use have also increased. The Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), a system for monitoring the health impact of drugs, estimated that in 2011, there were nearly 456,000 drug-related emergency department visits in the United States in which marijuana use was mentioned in the medical record (a 21 percent increase over 2009). About two-thirds of patients were male and 13 percent were between the ages of 12 and 17.6. It is unknown whether this increase is due to increased use, increased potency of marijuana (amount of THC it contains), or other factors. It should be noted, however, that mentions of marijuana in medical records do not necessarily indicate that these emergencies were directly related to marijuana intoxication.