Marijuana Use Has Fallen ‘Dramatically’ Among U.S. Teens

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by HealthDay.

Weed use among U.S. teenagers fell dramatically over the past decade, a new study shows.

By 2021, only about 16% of teens said they were currently using marijuana, down from 23% in 2011, researchers found.

All grades experienced a notable decline in current weed use, particularly among ninth graders, researchers said.

Further, the percentage of kids who tried weed for the first time prior to age 13 also notably declined, sinking to about 5% in 2021 from 8% in 2011.

Results show that weed use is most prevalent among high school seniors and juniors, with around 1 in 5 reporting regular use, 22% and 19% respectively.

“While we observed an overall decline from 2011 to 2021 across all grades, older students consistently reported higher usage, particularly 12th graders,” said senior researcher Panagiota Kitsantas, chair of population health and social medicine with Florida Atlantic University’s Schmidt College of Medicine. “This suggests that as adolescents advance through high school, they may have greater access to marijuana, influenced by more developed peer networks and increased independence.”

For the study, researchers analyzed data on more than 88,000 U.S. teens gathered as part of the federal Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which is conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Teens who use marijuana are two to three and a half times more likely to have lower grade point averages, researchers noted. They also face a fourfold increase in psychosis diagnoses in adulthood.

The new study was published recently in the journal Pediatric Reports.

Source: HealthDay
https://www.healthday.com/health-news/child-health/marijuana-use-has-fallen-dramatically-among-us-teens