Have you ever wondered how common marijuana use is among today's youth? Well, a nationally representative sample of 13,627 public and private high school students from all 50 States and the District of Columbia has provided us with some answers. These students completed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 2001 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey (YRBSS), which included questions related to marijuana use and many other risk behaviors. Below are just a few of the survey's findings:
42.4 |
The percentage of students nationwide who have used marijuana during their lifetime. Male students (46.5 percent) are significantly more likely than females (38.4 percent) to report having ever used marijuana. |
23.9 |
The percentage of students nationwide who reported current marijuana use—using on 1 or more of the 30 days before the survey. Again, male students (27.9 percent) were significantly more likely than females (20.0 percent) to be currently using marijuana.
Students in grades 10, 11, and 12 were significantly more likely than students in grade 9 to report both lifetime and current use of marijuana.
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10.2 |
The percentage of students nationwide who tried marijuana before the age of 13. Overall, male students (13.2 percent) were significantly more likely than females (7.5 percent) to have used marijuana before the age of 13. |
Another excellent source of marijuana use data is the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA). This survey is different in that results are reported by age group (not grade level) and the survey is administered to youth as young as age 12. Some 2001 survey results are listed below.
14.9 |
The percentage of 16- to 17-year-olds who have used marijuana in the past month. |
7.6 |
The percentage of 14- to 15-year-olds who have used marijuana in the past month. |
1.5 |
The percentage of 12- to 13-year-olds who have used marijuana in the past month. |
Among 12- to 17-year-old students, males (8.9 percent) were significantly more likely than females (7.1 percent) to report past month use of marijuana.
If you would like to learn more about YRBSS and NHSDA, including the uses and limitations of the data and similarities and differences among subgroups, please visit the Web sites listed below.
Sources
Grunbaum, J.A., L. Kann, S.A. Kinchen, B. Williams, J.G. Ross, R. Lowry, and L. Kolbe. Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance—United States, 2001. MMWR Surveillance Summaries. June 28, 2002/51(SS04): 1-64, last referenced 12/10/2002.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Office of Applied Studies: 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, Alcohol Use Data, released September 2002.
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