Report: Frequent marijuana smoking up 80 percent amongteens

Marijuana may not be physically addictive like nicotine, but many experts agree that it can become ahabit that's very hard to break, especially after long-term use. Addiction, as defined by the NationalInstitute on Drug Abuse, is compulsive use even when the user says it's getting in the way of home,work or school. iStockphoto

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(CBS/AP) Pot use is becoming a big problem for U.S. teens, a new survey suggests. The Partnershipat Drugfree.org released a new survey Wednesday that found nearly 1 in 10 teens said they smokemarijuana at least 20 or more times a month.

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That amounts to a whopping 80 percent rise in past-month marijuana use among teens since theorganization's 2008 survey. The report by The Partnership at Drugfree.org and MetLife Foundationalso said abuse of prescription medicine may be easing a bit among young people in grades 9through 12, but still remains high.

Based in New York, The Partnership at Drugfree.org is formerly The Partnership for a Drug-FreeAmerica - best known for the "this is your brain on drugs" ads of the 1980s and 1990s. The nonprofitgroup launched a new name in 2010 to position itself as more of a resource to parents and to avoidthe misperception that the group is a government organization.

For the report, researchers gave anonymousquestionnaires to 3,322 teens in grades 9-12 that they filled out at school from March to June2011.

Partnership President Steve Pasierb says themindset among parents is that a little weed or afew pills is no big deal.

"Parents are talking about cocaine and heroin,things that scare them," said Pasierb. "Parents arenot talking about prescription drugs andmarijuana. They can't wink and nod. They need tobe stressing the message that this behavior isunhealthy."

Use of harder drugs - cocaine andmethamphetamine - has stabilized in recent years,the group's survey showed. But past-month usageof marijuana grew from 19 percent in 2008 to 27 percent last year. Also alarming, says Pasierb, isthe percentage of teens smoking pot 20 or more times a month. That rate went from 5 percent in2008 to 9 percent last year, or about 1.5 million teens toking up that frequently.

Alex, 17, in Houston, says he started smoking pot at age 13, mostly on the weekends with friends.

"I just liked being high," said Alex, who is in a recovery program and asked that his last name not beused. "I always felt happier. Everything was funnier and my life was just brighter."

Alex then started abusing prescription drugs at 14. He blacked out one day at school, got arrestedand ended up in rehab. After being sober for two years, Alex slipped and smoked pot last month.Still, he says he hopes to work toward a more sober life.

The findings on marijuana track closely with those in a recent University of Michigan studysponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health. Thatstudy also found marijuana use rising among teens the past few years, reversing a long decline inthe previous decade.

"These findings are deeply disturbing as the increases we're seeing in heavy, regular marijuana useamong high school students can spell real trouble for these teens later on," Pasierb said in a writtenstatement, adding kids who start in teen years are more likely to have substance abuse problemslater in life.

Teens who smoked 20 times or more a month were almost twice as likely as kids who smoked potless frequently to use ecstasy, cocaine or crack, according to the report.

Other findings from the report:

One in 10 teens report using prescription painkillers - Vicodin or OxyContin - in the past year, downfrom a peak of 15 percent in 2009 and 14 percent in 2010.

Just over half of Hispanic teens report using an illicit drug, such as Ecstasy or cocaine, in the pastyear. That compares to 39 percent for Caucasian teens and 42 percent for African American teens.

 Past-year alcohol use and past-month drinking is holding steady from the 2008 report at 56percent and 38 percent respectively

The Marijuana Policy Project, which advocates legalization, says making pot legal for adults mighthelp cut teen usage.

"We definitely don't think that minors should be using marijuana any more than they should bedrinking or using tobacco, but arresting people for doing that never stops minors," said Morgan Fox,a spokesman for the group. "If we remove marijuana from the criminal market and have the marketrun by responsible business people that have an incentive to check IDs and not sell to minors, thenwe might see those rates drop again."

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