Disco may have failed to make a comeback. So did leisure suits and K.C. and the Sunshine Band.But smoking marijuana is back on a roll, its use by teenagers climbing higher than anytime since the 1970s. Indeed, according to a new NIH study, smoking pot is more popular than smoking regular cigarettes. 21.4% of high school seniors, 16.7% of 10th-graders and 8% of eighth-graders reported having used marijuana in the past 30 days.
There's a combination of factors behind the increase: uncaring and ineffective law enforcement, the legalization of pot for therapeutic use in several states, and the resultant myths that the drug has no damaging effects. "C'mon and take a drag. It ain't a dangerous drug. Dude, it's medicine!"
Of course, anyone who has done any reading on the subject understands that marijuana use does indeed create several dangerous side-effects. And those of us who have personal experience with the drug -- well, we can't remember what we read about it.
I rest my case.
Kids, stay away from the weed.
(Thanks, Ron, for the link to this Denver Post story.)
