In the United States, about 6.5% of high school students smoke marijuana every day. They were six percent ten years ago and 2.4% in 1993. A survey of 41,600 high school students by the US National Institute of Health points to this worrying phenomenon. This increased use of marijuanacould be explained by the ease of obtaining cannabis, according to the report. In fact, Colorado and Washington state have decriminalized the use of marijuana and in 19 other states, plus the District of Columbia, it can be used for medical reasons.
Another possible cause of this relative trivialization of this drug among young people is the belief that it is less risky to smoke joints daily than to take hard drugs. One figure illustrates this misconception: 40% of Terminale students consider one or more daily joints to be harmful to their health. They were 44.1% last year. In other words, the rate of young people convinced by the false safety of cannabis tends to increase and 6 in 10 senior citizens think that smoking marijuana every day is a trivial practice.
Perhaps the National Institute of Health should step up these awareness-raising efforts among young people to remind people of dangers of cannabis use : without addressing the risks of driving after having consumed it (even more when it is associated with alcohol), taking it regularly leads to progressive desocialization characterized by indifference to its environment, a break with reality, difficulties concentration and learning and loss of motivation. And the risk of addiction is real. This is evidenced by the symptoms following a sudden or temporary cessation of consumption: increased stress, irritability and difficulty falling asleep.
It seems that American teenagers are not aware of all of these side effects. “We should be extremely worried,” said Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute for the Fight against Drugs.
Less alcohol in the evening
Along with these data on marijuana, the report sees a decline in the use of alcohol and hard drugs like cocaine and heroin, which have never been lower. As for alcohol, 13.7% of eighth graders drink 5 or more drinks in a row in a party in 2012, compared to 15.6% last year.
