More teens smoke pot than cigarettes, says CDC survey

File photo of marijuana buds at Med Grow Cannabis College in Southfield, Mich.

/ Carlos Osorio

(AP) ATLANTA - A government survey shows more teens are now smoking pot than cigarettes.

More on the CDC's National Youth Risk Behavior Survey

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday that 23 percent of high school students said they recently smoked marijuana, while 18 percent said they had puffed cigarettes. The survey asked teens about a variety of risky behaviors.

For decades, the number of teens who smoke has been on the decline. Marijuana use has fluctuated, and recently rose. At times, pot and cigarette smoking were about the same level, but last year marked the first time marijuana use was clearly greater.

An earlier survey by the University of Michigan also found that pot smoking was higher. A Michigan expert said teens today apparently see marijuana as less dangerous than cigarettes.

More on the CDC's National Youth Risk Behavior Survey

[audemus]

So do their parents.

[sigin88]

It's a sign that today's teenagers are more aware of the health effects of tobacco. They know that marijuana is harmless, the only bad side effect is it's legality.

[retiredgustav]

But don't they know that smoking marijuana can lead to tobacco. I know it did with me and I had an 'ell of a time getting off of that stuff.

[deftdrummer]

Here's something to chew on: I don't give two *** what any of you think about marijuana good or bad. I will continue to smoke it and ya'll can keep to your politiking.

[andie52]

spoken like a true pot head

[Overruled1]

Children and teens must be kept away from pot and alcohol.
Once a teen is an adult of course it's their bodies and choices, but it's unhealthy for any kids to take substances before fully maturing.
I'm not condoning the use, but feel there is legitimate use for the average adult for many ailments from temporary to chronic pains and aggravated injury.
We have to keep in mind this drug is naturally found, had been used for thousands of years before there was a drug industry.

[zaold]

Just to be clear, teens smoke more pot than they do alcohol. The one thing causing teens to be smoking more pot than cigs and alcohol is it generally is also vastly easier for kids to buy pot than cigs and alcohol. After all, what the people waging this 'drug war' never seem to admit is that unlike stores, dealers do not ask for ID. You'd NEVER find a pot dealer who checks ID to make sure someone is old enough to smoke, because no one would ever trust a dealer asking for ID. "Yeah I'd like to sell you something illegal, just let me check your ID first to ensure you're of age"

It's absurd, if you want to keep teens away from pot, don't make it so that the only source of pot comes from people who wouldn't care if they're selling to a minor or adult. Make it legal, and have stores check IDs. Yeah, teens still manage to get alcohol, and they'll still manage to get weed, but it'd be much more difficult.

[Grmstr]

"THE CHILDREN"
If they really cared for the children they'd legalize and regulate marijuana. If they really wanted to keep ANY substance out of the hands of "The Children" they first must take control of distribution away from black market dealers. They haven't accomplished that in 40+ years at a taxpayers cost in the hundreds of billions. It's time to treat marijuana as we do alcohol. My 27 year old daughter still gets carded when she buys alcohol, yet your 13 year old can buy anything the black market dealer has for a price whether it be money or "something else".
FACT: Your kids have a better chance dying at the hands of someone enforcing marijuana laws than they do from ingesting it.(ZERO %).

LEAP member, NYPD, ret.

[novelty928839]

Also, in order for marijuana to kill you, you would have to smoke 150 pounds in under 10 minutes. This is physically impossible, as you would suffocate from the smoke before the actual cannaboids killed you. Know your facts before you go railing off on how dangerous marijuana is. The worst thing that happens when you're really high is you get too high and fall asleep. That's it. Here's an article from the FDA: http://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000145#drugdeathchart
Do you know how many deaths it's caused directly? Zero. None. That's less than advil and certainly less than cigarettes which cause up to 5 MILLION deaths per year. Alcohol kills 75,000 people. Let me say this again, marijuana: zero.

[novelty928839]

That was directed at CBS news, by the way, not commenters. I'm sick of news corporations painting this criminal picture of marijuana.

[Overruled1]

The worst I've ever heard happened was a factual story featured on "DRAGNET" with Jack Webb and Harry Morgan.
In that episode, where the names were changed to protect the innocent...
A woman took time for a pot break while filling the tub for her kid's bath. Apparently she forgot, and the kid drowned in the tub.
True story...

I remember a train engineer who smoked it and missed a red light causing a crash.

There are definitely some people that should never smoke like them.

I'd limit where people can smoke too, not in cars, or public places where it's not social, and at work of course.

[formerlyluvnut]

Next week they will say use is down. They have NO clue. It's ALL propaganda.

[train99]

So what do these teens think about Obama being so strict on soft drugs?
Maybe their liberal moms and dads haven't told them about that yet.
'Course their moms and dads don't want to face that fact either.

[PowerisPower]

I would argue that you're bullheaded ignorance is far more damaging to this country than teens smoking marijuana.

[David_Tampa]

Cammon kids have a drink, us pubs don't care if you are drinking illegally. As long as we can deal our drugs. We will have a special sale if our man Willard gets elected.

[rightofwrong]

Where did they get the numbers? Who tells the truth in these "Surveys"?

[formerlyluvnut]

Re-hab centers!

[internetJen]

About the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System
CDC's YRBS System is the only surveillance system designed to monitor a wide range of priority health risk behaviors among representative samples of high school students at the national, state, and local levels.

National, state, and large urban school district surveys are conducted every two years among high school students throughout the United States. These surveys monitor priority health risk behaviors including unintentional injuries and violence; tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use; sexual behaviors that contribute to unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV infection; unhealthy dietary behaviors; and physical inactivity. These surveys also monitor obesity and asthma.

More than 15,000 U.S. high school students participated in the 2011 National YRBS. Parental permission was obtained for students to participate in the survey and student participation was voluntary, and responses were anonymous. States and large urban school districts could modify the questionnaire to meet their needs. The 2011 YRBS System report includes national YRBS data and data from surveys conducted in 43 states and 21 large urban school districts.

The 2011 national YRBS is one of three HHS-sponsored surveys that provide data on substance abuse among youth nationally. The others are the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration -a primary source of statistics on substance use among Americans age 12 and older (www.oas.samhsa.gov/nhsda.htm), and the Monitoring the Future (MTF) study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse -part of the National Institutes of Health- and conducted by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research (http://monitoringthefuture.org). The MTF study tracks substance use and related attitudes among students in the eighth, 10th, and 12th grades.

[kesterling2003]

Well doge gone it, the chilledrens just aren't falling for the bald faced lies, half truths, and hysterical rhetoric. Perhaps the solution is more lies, told in a more insistent tone of faux authority.

Kudos to CBS News for noting that this result is almost wholly a function of the decline in youth use of smoking tobacco. Age limits enforced by licensed businesses work. Assigning the market to criminals willing to commit felonies in the regular course of daily business, not so much.

[markt1147]

"A Michigan expert said teens today apparently see marijuana as less dangerous than cigarettes." - Ummm...that's because marijuana IS less dangerous than cigarettes. One causes cancer, the other prevents it. https://www.greenpassion.org/index.php?/topic/26942-grannys-mmj-list-january-2011/

[Quirkelchomp]

I need a scientific article proving that marijuana actually prevents Cancer.

[novelty928839]

Quirkelchomp, here you go:
Harvard study: http://www.nowpublic.com/thc_marijuana_helps_cure_cancer_says_harvard_study
Science news:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070417193338.htm
One more for good measure:
http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=748
Scientific articles. Do you need any proof that cigarettes cause cancer? 'cause I'd be more than happy to link to those articles as well.