A new federal report reveals a pretty remarkable victory for weed and those who love it. For the first time in the four decades since the "Monitoring the Future" survey began, daily weed enjoyment among high school seniors has surpassed cigarette grossness. Six percent of 12th graders claim to enjoy weed on the daily, while 5.5 percent (down from last year’s 6.7) say the same about cigarettes.
"The sense that marijuana has medicinal purposes and that doctors are prescribing it creates a sense that this drug cannot be so harmful," Dr. Nora D. Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health, tells Time. The survey, funded by Volkow’s institute, also examined seniors' "perceptions" of marijuana, particularly of interest in light of increasingly widespread legalization. Nearly 32 percent of seniors believe consistent weed use "could be harmful," a noteworthy decline from last year’s 36 percent.
The report also explores the habits of students in grades 8 through 10, finding that cigarette use is also diminishing in this age group. In fact, these kids are giving up on a lot of substances:
In each of the grades, it noted declining usage rates for cigarettes, alcohol, prescription opioid pain relievers, synthetic marijuana and heroin (which hit a record low at 0.3% for 8th graders and 0.5% for 10th and 12th graders.)
Sadly, e-cigarettes are "as popular" as they were last year, despite the fact that some very earnest providers of information strategically used a True Detective reference to warn everyone about their potential for danger.
