Study: Teen marijuana use at 30-year high

Cigarette and alcohol use among American teenagers is at a record low, but daily marijuana use is up at a 30-year record, a national survey has found.

The mixed news from the annual Monitoring the Future poll showed continued use of synthetic marijuana products known as spice and K2. More than 36.4 percent of teens used marijuana, and 6.6 percent reported daily use. The upward trend corresponded to a downward one in perception of risk, researchers said.

This year, 46,733 students in eighth, 10th and 12th grades at 400 schools were polled. The survey has been conducted by the University of Michigan since 1975. It is financed with a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Researchers attributed the proliferation of smoke-free zones and higher cigarette prices with driving down the number of teen smokers.

"While it's good news that cigarette use has declined to historically low rates, we can and must do more to accelerate that decline," Dr. Howard Koh, U.S. assistant secretary for Health said in a statement Wednesday.

Results showed 18.7 percent of 12th-graders reported cigarette use, compared with a peak of 36.5 percent in 1997.

Only 6.1 percent of eighth-graders said they smoke, compared with a peak of 21 percent in 1996.

For alcohol, 63.5 percent of 12th-graders reported past-year use, compared with a peak of 74.8 percent in 1997.

Binge drinking -- five or more drinks in a row in the past two weeks -- declined to a five-year low across all three grades.

Regarding prescription drugs, abuse of the opioid painkiller Vicodin was reported by 8.1 percent of 12th-graders, similar to 2010. However, there was no decline in OxyContin abuse. On Long Island, experts observed trends similar to those in the national survey.

"What you see through the decades is that the use of certain drugs tends to wax and wane," said Dr. Rick Terenzi, chief of North Shore University Hospital's drug treatment and education center in Manhasset. Terenzi pointed to teens hewing toward "fad drugs du jour," which currently on Long Island tend to be marijuana and prescription-grade narcotic painkillers.

In keeping with Terenzi's notion of fad drugs, the survey found a decline in the abuse of over-the-counter cough medicine, which had been popular but in recent years jas been moved behind the counter.

Eileen Wolfe, an Albertson interventionist who conducts drug-abuse prevention workshops, called on parents, teachers and school nurses to recognize the signs of addiction.

"Many kids think of drug use as a rite of passage," Wolfe said. "We've got to do a much better job of getting the message across about the dangers."