In the United States in 2002 there were 15.7 marijuana users from the age of 16 to 17. In 2007 there were 13.1 regular smokers from the age 16-17. The following year it dropped yet again, not by much though, to 12.7 percent of 16-17 year old students smoking marijuana. In 2009 there were exactly 14 percent of them smoking.
Experts say smoking can cause some short-term effects on your body. Memory loss, distorted perception like sight, sounds, touch, and time. Also, loss of coordination, trouble thinking about one topic, and increased heart rate.
“It’s easy to spot the people that do smoke, it’s also easy to see the people that don’t,” Ryan* said. “It doesn’t make sense to me why they would ever even try it. I tried it once and I felt like I was about to die every second. I hated it.”
Of 8th graders, 74.3 percent think that smoking marijuana is bad. Of 12th graders, that number is 54.8 percent. Most high school students don’t think that it is a problem to try it once. Only 18.6 percent of high school seniors see problems with trying it only once.
“I think some teenagers just smoke because they want to see what it’s like to feel high,” Kimberly* said. “That doesn’t make it right. It makes it easier to go and smoke more, because they know how easy it is to get.”
Marijuana is known as a “gateway drug” to other drugs. Much harder, and scarier drugs.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) reports that the younger someone is when he or she uses marijuana, the more likely he or she is to use other drugs when they reach adulthood.
Cocaine: 62 percent of adults who had used marijuana before the age of 15 have used cocaine at some point during their lives. For those who had never used marijuana, that number is 0.6 percent. Heroin: Those who use marijuana in youth are more likely to use heroin. That number is 9 percent as compared to 0.1 percent for those who had never used marijuana.
Psycho-therapeutic drugs: 53.9 percent of those who used marijuana before the age of 15 report that they have also tried to use psycho-therapeutic drugs for non-medical uses. The rate for those who have not used marijuana is 5.1 percent.
“I think it’s easy to get drugs in high school,” Kimberly said.” No matter what it is. Not just in Wichita though. Pretty much everywhere. I do think that marijuana is usually the first drug that kids try, just because that’s what is supposed to be ‘cool’ in high school and middle school because my brother comes home with stories about how people tell him what it is like to smoke.”
The new growing acceptance of marijuana is at an all time high. Some cities, states and countries have legalized it for personal use. A poll in 2010 asked the question “Do you think Marijuana should be legal?” 46 percent said yes, legal and 50 percent said no, not legal. In 2006, that statistic was very different. Only 36 percent said yes, it should be legal. And, 60 percent said no, not legal.
“If it was legal, it would just make more and more people think that it would be okay,” Kimberly said.
There is 16 states in the US that sell medical. These 16 states have websites that tell where the dispensaries are, how to get it and where the medical offices are to get the prescription. Prices range depending on what state it is. In Alaska, it’s $20 for 1 oz. A person can also have six plants growing legally.
“Weed is becoming okay in everyday life,” Ryan said. “School teaches us how to say no to drugs in fifth grade through eighth grade, Hot Topics. I think that teenagers and college students have this idea that since it is legal in other places then it should be legal here.”
Monitoring the Future is an ongoing study of the behaviors, attitudes, and values of American high school students, college students, and young adults. Each year, a total of approximately 50,000 8th, 10th and 12th grade students are surveyed (12th graders since 1975, and 8th and 10th graders since 1991).
The thing they have learned over the years is that when young people come to see a drug is dangerous, they are less likely to use it, according to Lloyd Johnston, the principle investigator in the MTF survey. This helps to explain why marijuana use is rising right now, because the proportion of kids who see it as dangerous has been declining. The most recent survey was is February of this year. The survey is performed in conjunction with the National Institute of Drug Abuse. The survey proves that marijuana is more abused in high school students than anything else, including alcohol and cigarettes. One in 15 teenagers use it daily. In the past four years that percentage has been increasing exponentially.
When someone uses marijuana, the chemicals in marijuana travel through the bloodstream and quickly attach to special places on the brain’s nerve cells. These places are called receptors, because they receive information from other nerve cells and from chemicals. When a receptor receives information, it causes changes in the nerve cell. The chemical in marijuana that has a big impact on the brain is called THC — tetrahydrocannabinol. Scientists recently discovered that some areas of the brain have a lot of THC receptors, while others have very few or none. These clues are helping researchers figure out exactly how THC works in the brain.
*indicates name change