Pot more prevalent than cigarettes among American teens

[Unknown Beatle]

Study shows tobacco consumption continues to decline, while marijuana use is reported by quarter of young people

For Chris Hopkins, 16, the idea of smoking a joint is no big thing.

“Everyone at my school smokes marijuana,” said the junior at Manalapan High School in northern New Jersey. He explained further: “I guess because you get a feeling from it. Tobacco doesn’t really do anything for you. You just stand out in the cold every two hours.”

Hopkins was himself standing out in the cold — huddled with friends who’d skipped school with him to go to the annual Z100 Jingle Ball preshow at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York.

He and his peers said they’re not surprised by some of the key findings released on Wednesday in the new Monitoring the Future Survey, an annual report by the National Institute on Drug Abuse that tracks illicit consumption among American students in eighth, 10th and 12th grades. The figures show that smoking tobacco is going out of style among young Americans, in marked contrast to smoking marijuana.

According to the survey, cigarette smoking continues to drop. Just 16 percent of high school seniors report smoking within the past month, which is the lowest rate since the survey began in 1975. Marijuana use, on the other hand, was 23 percent for the same group. That number is roughly the same as for last year, but it has gone up from 19.4 percent in 2008.

More: Aljazeera America

[NightWatcher]

1. Good!

Pot is a lot less dangerous than tobacco.

Hell, I'm hoping to get it as a medicine soon

[Rex]

2. Hopefully one day it will just go back to weed status.

And people will leave others alone over it. They sure didn't have a problem with smoking a leaf.

[Warpy]

3. Good. Pot isn't addictive. Cigarettes are.

and sharing a joint among 4-5 people isn't providing nearly the same kind of tar and nicotine that sucking down the smoke of a pack of cigs every day does.

[Warren DeMontague]

4. Is this supposed to be upsetting?

I'm fucking thrilled I was a pothead in high school, instead of a cigarette smoker. When it came time to quit smoking pot, it was a relative piece of cake.

I know plenty of nicotine addicts; that's a REAL tough nut to crack.

[Unknown Beatle]

5. I posted this not because

it's upsetting, but because it's great news.

[Warren DeMontague]

6. I meant the tone of the article, but yeah, I get it

that wasn't directed at you personally.