Marijuana Decreases in US and Across World
Welcome News as Cannabis Use Continues Decline Among Youth
Feb 12, 2009
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cannabis is the most widely abused illicit drug. About 147 million people, 2.5% of the world population, used cannabis in the past year, compared with 0.2% who used cocaine or 0.2% who used opiates. WHO also defines both the Acute and Chronic Health Effects of marijuana, and reports that certain effects have been recognized for many years and recent studies have confirmed and extended earlier findings.
World Study
The study “Decrease in Adolescent Cannabis Use From 2002-2006 and Links to Evenings Out With Friends in 31 European and North American Countries and Regions” (Kuntsche, Simons-Morton, Fotiou, Bogt, and Kokkevi, Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, February 2009) in collaboration with WHO, shows that marijuana use is decreasing around the world. Teens at age 15, simply, are using less marijuana. Researchers examined data for 93,297 15 year-olds in dozens of countries.
Users were defined as teens who used marijuana at least once in the past year. While rates varied, prevalence was highest in Canada where 30 percent of boys and 28 percent of girls used marijuana in 2006. That was down almost 13 percent for boys and almost 10 percent for girls.
The United States ranked third in this study with 24 percent of boys and girls each reporting marijuana use. That was down almost 12 percent among boys and 2 percent among girls. Switzerland ranked second in prevalence among boys, and Wales was second among girls. Greece, Macedonia,and Sweden were lowest with fewer than 5 percent reporting use. Of the 31 countries studied, increases occurred only in Estonia, Lithuania, Malta, and among Russian girls.
The average number of “nights out with friends” also fell slightly, to about twice a week in 2006 for boys and girls. Researchers believe that going out with friends may be a risk factor for marijuana use because youth do drugs in secret with friends. Research confirms that youth who spend many nights out are more likely to use than youth who tend be homebodies.
American Studies: MTF and NHSDUH
Two major American studies also support these findings. They both show a decrease of use in the United States.
The first is the Monitoring the Future Study (MTF). The MTF study shows that marijuana has been the most widely used illicit drug throughout the study’s 33 years. Annual marijuana prevalence peaked among 12th graders in 1979 at 51%, following a rise that began during the 1960s. Then use declined fairly steadily for 13 years, bottoming at 22% in 1992—a decline of more than half. The 1990s, however, saw a resurgence of use. After another increase, rates dropped again to the current use rate of 19.4 percent for 12th graders (for use in past 30 days.) (“National Results on Adolescent Drug Use: Overview of Key Findings”, Monitoring the Future, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Bethesda, MD, 2008.)
The second study is the NHSDUH study. According to the 2007 SAMHSA National Household Survey on Drug Use and Health (NHSDUH, Office of Applied Sciences, US Department of Health and Human Services, updated December 31, 2008), in 1979, about 45.3 percent of youth used marijuana in the preceding 30 days. In the 2007 study, for 16 and 17 year olds the prevalence of use of marijuana declined to 13.1 percent. In addition, the rate of 30 day use for the total population ages 12-and-older hit a low of 5.8 percent.
Popularity Declining
Overall, the popularity of marijuana seems to be declining especially because of certain risk and protective factors. Studies show that three important elements, Perceived Risk of Harm, Disapproval of Marijuana Use, and Availability of the drug have helped the overall decline in use. Perhaps more than anything, however, youth are starting to understand that drug use is like playing with dynamite - and the consequences are not worth the temptations.
References
Decrease in Adolescent Marijuana Abuse
