Marijuana smoke continues to rise across the United States, as popularity of weed continues to grow, while the smoke from methamphetamine use begins to clear as the drug loses favor. According to the newly released National Survey on Drug Use and Health, use of marijuana has increased by about 1 percent overall during the last three years, but the number of people using meth has plummeted by nearly half.The survey was sponsored by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). A total of 67,500 interviews were conducted at random among Americans 12 years of age or older. Findings revealed that about one in 10 Americans regularly use illegal drugs, ranging from prescription drugs used recreationally, to use of such substances as marijuana, cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, or inhalants.
The American drug of choice by far is marijuana, having approximately 17.4 million regular users, and the preference for weed continues to grow with 6.9 percent of the population partaking of the substance in 2010, up from 5.8 percent in 2007.
According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy director Gil Kerlikowske, the primary reason for the increase in use of marijuana is the rise in number of states having approved the drug for medicinal purposes. May of 2011 marked the addition of Delaware as the 16 state to approve medical marijuana.
Among children 12 to 17 years of age, the number of users in 2010 account for about 7.4 percent of the age group, with the same percentage of youngsters having reported marijuana use in the past month. For young American adults ranging in age from 18 to 25, illegal drug use has been steadily on the rise from 19.6 percent in 2008 to 21.5 percent in 2010, with marijuana use accounting for the majority of the increase, up from 16.5 percent in 2008 to 18.5 percent in 2010.
Bill Piper, director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance, an advocacy group for the decriminalization of marijuana, argued that rates of use of the drug fluctuate much the same in medical marijuana states as in non-medical marijuana states. He also pointed out, “In the field of medicine, whether or not a youth might abuse something doesn’t determine whether or not an adult should have access to a medication and whether a doctor should prescribe it.”
In contrast to the rising use of marijuana, is the rocketing decline in the use of methamphetamine. After rates of use had continued to climb over the past decade, the number of Americans having reported use of the drug in the past month dropped sharply from 731,000 in 2006 to 353,000 in 2010.
According to Peter Delany, director of the Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality at SAMHSA, much of the decline is attributed to restricted or outlawed sale of ingredients necessary for manufacturing the drug, including cold medication ingredient pseudoephedrine. He explained, “We’ve seen better attention for law enforcement and policy changes. You can’t get all the Sudafed you want anymore.”
Findings of the survey also showed that illegal use of prescription drugs held steady at 2.7 percent of the nation’s population. Among those using such drugs as narcotic painkillers for recreational purposes, 55 percent reported obtaining them from a friend or family member for free, while 11.4 percent purchased them from the from friends or relatives, and 5 percent stole them from family or friends. Only 4 percent admittedly bought them from an actual drug dealer.
The lack of growth in non-medical use of prescription drugs is largely due to lawmakers and law enforcement actively battling the problem by establishing state programs for monitoring the prescribing of narcotics, and cracking down on doctors who provide prescriptions having little to do with an actual medical examination or diagnosis.
Among other findings of the survey, a serious issue is that of 23 million Americans in need of treatment for a substance abuse problem in 2010, fewer than 3 million actually received it.
On a better note, the report showed that in 2010, tobacco use and binge drinking were both down among teens in comparison to 2009 statistics.
Soure: HealthNews
