Recent survey findings show that teenagers’ perceptions about the risk of marijuana use are changing, as fewer believe the drug is harmful. The results are from the National Institute on Drug Abuse annual survey of teen drug use, as reported in the February 6 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) (page 429).
According to the survey, 41.7% of eighth graders believe that occasional marijuana use is harmful, while 66.9% believe regular use is harmful. These are the lowest levels since the study began tracking eighth graders on these questions in 1991.
About twenty-one percent (20.6%) of twelfth graders believe that occasional marijuana use is harmful, while 44.1% believe regular use is harmful. These are the lowest levels among this age group since 1979.
The article also describes survey results for teen use of marijuana and other drugs. For example, 6.5% of teens reported daily marijuana use in 2012, compared with 5.1% five years ago.
JAMA is available in the legislative library.
