First-time teen tobacco and marijuana use booms in June and July

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(CBS News) Teenagers aged 13 to 17 are more likely to start smoking cigarettes or weed on an average day in June and July than any other month in the year, according to study results released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

An average of 5,000 youth start smoking cigarettes each day for the first time during the two summer months, compared to about 3,000 to 4,000 a day during the rest of the year. About 4,500 teens used marijuana for the first time each day in June and July. Average levels range from 3,000 to 4,000 kids a day the rest of the year.

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"More free time and less adult supervision can make the summertime an exciting time for many young people, but it can also increase the likelihood of exposure to the dangers of substance abuse," SAMHSA Administrator Pamela Hyde said in the press release. "That is why it is critically important to take every opportunity we can throughout the year to talk to our young people about the real risks of substance abuse and effective measures for avoiding it, so they will be informed and capable of making the right decisions on their own."

First alcohol use also increased to more than 11,000 adolescents a day in June and July - with similar levels in December. The number is even sometimes twice as much as the 5,000 to 8,000 teens who start drinking on any average day in the year.

Deni Carise, chief clinical officer at Phoenix House, an addiction research and policy expert, said to HealthPop that the statistics should serve as a warning for parents, especially since so many teens are out of school during the summer months, Carise said that while it can't be said that smoking leads to drug use, her work has shown that people who abuse drugs have also tried tobacco at one point. There is research to support and deny that marijuana is a gateway drug, but the fact that drinking and smoking on their own can be a destructive behavior is what is most important.

"Alcohol in and of itself is a problem, and there's no doubt that marijuana is a drug can that change how a brain functions," she explained. "We know that the brain isn't developed until 25 years of age, so when someone takes mind altering drugs while the frontal lobe of the brain is developing you don't know what it's doing to that development."

There's no denying that once a teen starts experimenting with drugs, they may be open to trying other things. Carise has seen an increase in teens who, within six months of the first time they start abusing abusing prescription opiates (like oxycotin), start using heroin

Carise suggested that four steps need to be taken in order to stop teens from developing a life of drug abuse. First, parents need to be cognizant that their children have more free time and increase activities during the summer months, as well as have more discussions about the harmful effects of drugs. They should also take care to hide prescription medications. Community programs thatkeep kids busy and offer alternative activities can also help.

Carise also believes that if anti-drug media campaigns and awareness were increased in June and July, they would have a better effect. She said that the campaigns should be targeted toward the teen who had never tried drugs before.

Finally, Carise said that law enforcement should increase their efforts to crack down on underage tobacco and alcohol sales. Many young people pick up jobs at local grocery stores or corner stores, and she pointed out that they may be more likely to sell these products to their peers.

"A certain percentage of people who try drugs are going to get addicted," she said. "The more people who try drugs, the more people get addicted."

[OldGreengo]

It's good to see there is moderation here. Thanks.

[JoseofTexas]

Smoke is an essential part of one's diet. Too bad the government wants you to feel like crap by smoking tobacco and taking prozac.

[malcolm-kyle]

1) Tobacco is cancer causing largely because it delivers specific carcinogens such as NNK and NNAL that are not present in cannabis. Not all "tar" is created equal, and tobacco has some of the most carcinogenic types of tar known to science, whereas cannabis does not.

2) Cannabis (marijuana) use is associated with a DECREASE in several types of cancer... potentially even providing a protective effect against tobacco and alcohol related cancer development.

Donald Tashkin, a UCLA researcher whose work is funded by NIDA, did a case-control study comparing 1,200 patients with lung, head and neck cancers to a matched group with no cancer. Even the heaviest marijuana smokers had no increased risk of cancer, and had somewhat lower cancer risk than non-smokers (tobacco smokers had a 20-fold increased lung cancer risk). Tashkin D. Marijuana Use and Lung Cancer: Results of a Case-Control Study. American Thoracic Society International Conference. May 23, 2006.

Researchers at the Kaiser-Permanente HMO, funded by NIDA, followed 65,000 patients for nearly a decade, comparing cancer rates among non-smokers, tobacco smokers, and marijuana smokers. Tobacco smokers had massively higher rates of lung cancer and other cancers. Marijuana smokers who didn't also use tobacco had no increase in risk of tobacco-related cancers or of cancer risk overall. In fact their rates of lung and most other cancers were slightly lower than non-smokers. Sidney, S. et al. Marijuana Use and Cancer Incidence (California, United States). Cancer Causes and Control. Vol. 8. Sept. 1997, p. 722-728.

In a 1994 study the government tried to suppress, federal researchers gave mice and rats massive doses of THC, looking for cancers or other signs of toxicity. The rodents given THC lived longer and had fewer cancers, "in a dose-dependent manner" (i.e. the more THC they got, the fewer tumors). NTP Technical Report On The Toxicology And Carcinogenesis Studies Of 1-Trans- Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol, CAS No. 1972-08-3, In F344/N Rats And B6C3F Mice, Gavage Studies. See also, "Medical Marijuana: Unpublished Federal Study Found THC-Treated Rats Lived Longer, Had Less Cancer," AIDS Treatment News no. 263, Jan. 17, 1997.

Federal researchers implanted several types of cancer, including leukemia and lung cancers, in mice, then treated them with cannabinoids (unique, active components found in marijuana). THC and other cannabinoids shrank tumors and increased the mice's lifespans. Munson, AE et al. Antineoplastic Activity of Cannabinoids. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Sept. 1975. p. 597-602.

So there we have it: Tobacco Causes Cancer and Cannabis Prevents Cancer - even when smoked!

"Components of cannabis smoke minimize some carcinogenic pathways whereas tobacco smoke enhances some. Both types of smoke contain carcinogens and particulate matter that promotes inflammatory immune responses that may enhance the carcinogenic effects of the smoke. However, cannabis typically down-regulates immunologically-generated free radical production by promoting a Th2 immune cytokine profile. Furthermore, THC inhibits the enzyme necessary to activate some of the carcinogens found in smoke. In contrast, tobacco smoke increases the likelihood of carcinogenesis by overcoming normal cellular checkpoint protective mechanisms through the activity of respiratory epithelial cell nicotine receptors. Cannabinoids receptors have not been reported in respiratory epithelial cells (in skin they prevent cancer), and hence the DNA damage checkpoint mechanism should remain intact after prolonged cannabis exposure. Furthermore, nicotine promotes tumor angiogenesis whereas cannabis inhibits it."

[OldGreengo]

To Drivelphone001

What a moronic,vicious attack - devoid of reason.

Every major government commission on marijuana concluded it is less "addictive" than coffee and FAR less harmful than alcohol. That includes Nixon's 1972 Shafer Commision. The findings of all these major commissions can be read here:

http://www.druglibrary.org/SCHAFFER/Library/studies/studies.htm

The DEA's own administrative law judge, Francis Young, concluded after an exhaustive review of the evidence: "Marijuana, in its natural state, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man."

Alcohol directly kills more than 50,000 Americans every year. It kills many thousands more in highway deaths and from alcohol-induced violence. The preponderance of the research shows marijuana consumption is neither a signficant cause of auto accidents, nor violence.

NO ONE has ever died from ingesting marijuana - in all of recorded history. - That makes it safer than aspirin, coffee and peanuts!

SAMHSA research determined more than 100 million Americans have consumed marijuana. That's near HALF the of-age population. There are an estimated 30 million current consumers. The vast majority consume moderately - on the weekends or less, and are successful, hard-working, respected members of their communities. They are from all walks of life and loved by the families they support.

Marijuana is as American as apple pie - and much healthier. 8^)

Shame on you for vilifying millions of good Americans!

[mightaswellbe]

So, armed with that statistic the Government will ban June and July.

[astrangerinthisworld]

Is this another prohibition propaganda tactic? To discredit the fact that tobacco use has greatly decreased without anyone being sent to prison? So, link tobacco & cannabis as increasingly used drugs? The only problem with this tactic is it points out the fact that tobacco is a legal drug, even though it kills 400,000 in the USA every year. Is the point of this article to suggest we start tobacco prohibition? Bad idea. Any drug ever prohibited greatly increases in use, while growing more potent, & less expensive.