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After a decade-long decline, more American teens were using alcohol and marijuana in 2009, according to an annual survey released Tuesday by The Partnership for a Drug-Free America.
The study found that the number of teens in grades 9 through 12 who said they drank alcohol in the past month rose 11 percent last year. In total, 39 percent (about 6.5 million) of teens said they'd drank alcohol in 2009, up from 35 percent (about 5.8 million) of teens in 2008, the Associated Press reported.
Last year, 25 percent of teens said they'd smoking marijuana in the last month, compared with 19 percent in 2008.
Use of the party drug Ecstasy within the last month also increased, from four percent in 2008 to six percent last year, the study said.
"I'm a little worried that we may be seeing the leading edge of a trend here," said Sean Clarkin, director of strategy at The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, the AP reported. "Historically, you do see the increase in recreational drugs before you see increases in some of the harder drugs."
Add a Comment4 Comments
Marijuana use itself is not that bad, it's the marijuana laws that are the problem. If someone chooses to consume marijuana, they should do it responsibly. The first step toward re-education on marijuana is getting people to realize what the current laws are. Depending on which state you are in, you can get jail time and hefty fines for just testing positive for marijuana or possessing a used pipe. Want to know what the marijuana laws are in your state? Go to http://www.theweedblog.com to find out. There is lots of interesting stuff on that site.
March 5, 2010 - 9:35amThis Comment
Maybe the government will realize they lost the war on drugs.... maybe
March 3, 2010 - 10:19pmThis Comment
Yeah what is this another scare tactic? It sounds like to me parents are not doing the job of parenting. Stop trying to freak people out !!!! This is news?? Wow im shocked
March 3, 2010 - 9:59pmkids are using cannabis and alcohol :p !!! Get a grip people . There's only two types of people who are against drugs: the people who have never done drugs and the people who really sucked at doing drugs.
This Comment
That last comment is total B.S. Stop lying to our kids about marijuana and they might believe you when you warn them about hard drugs.
March 3, 2010 - 7:15pmThis Comment