photo: Senor Codo via Flickr
According to the annual Monitoring the Future survey released today by the National Institutes of Health, marijuana use is up and alcohol use is down amongst America’s teens.
Although U.S. Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske has taken to the airwaves to tell us “we should be very concerned about these marijuana numbers,” those numbers might actually be indicative of progress.
Of course there are few (if any) people who think teenagers should be using marijuana or alcohol, and it would be wonderful if all teens chose to remain “drug free.” But if they are going to use an intoxicating substance — and we all know many of them will — the fact is that they pose far less harm to themselves and to others if they choose to use marijuana instead of alcohol.
After all, every objective study on marijuana has concluded that it is far safer than alcohol for the user and society. Whereas alcohol contributes to overdose deaths, significant long-term health problems, serious injuries, and violent crimes, marijuana has never been found to contribute to such problems. Thus, those teens choosing to use marijuana instead of alcohol are in fact making a safer choice.
Not surprisingly, the drug czar is singling out medical marijuana laws and the debate surrounding them as the be-all-end-all cause of teens’ ease in attitude toward marijuana. This from a guy overseeing a major anti-marijuana ad campaign that has actually been found to increase the likelihood that those frequently exposed to the ads will experiment with marijuana. And when’s the last time you heard him complain about all the TV ads and billboards — visible to young and older people alike — that tout beer and liquor as the key to a good time. . . .
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