The next threat

Here in Indiana, kids are smoking fewer cigarettes and puffing more joints.  
At least, that’s the result of a new study from the 20th annual Survey of Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Use, which is conducted by the Indiana Prevention Resource Center and funded by the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration.

The study tracked cigarette and marijuana use in sixth through 12th graders and found that since 2008, monthly use of marijuana has trended upward while monthly use of cigarettes has statistically fallen.

This is certainly the moment when health professionals around the state can pat themselves on the back. While the fight against cigarettes is not over, it is reassuring to see such a trend.  

But here is a word of caution for lawmakers in the state. This study should not be used as fodder to bring the battle now to marijuana. This is not the time to plot a campaign against pot and spread claims about its evils to impressionable parents.  
In fact, when the rates of marijuana use in early teens is examined closely, there doesn’t seem to be an epidemic of pot use present at all.

Only 1.5 percent of sixth graders has tried the leafy green substance.
Compare that with the 8.1 percent of sixth graders who smoked a cigarette in the same year, and you’ll understand why marijuana is just a minor threat in the world of preteens. So perhaps there are other dangers lurking out there that are more harmful to our community.

Healthy policy makers in Indiana should direct their resources against the most dangerous scourges affecting teens today.

This study labels marijuana and cigarettes as a “gateway drug of first use,” that by their reasoning can lead to teens abusing other more harmful substances.
But defining marijuana as a gateway drug relies on faulty logic, according to a new study out from the University of New Hampshire.

Their study followed 1,286 teens and young adults who grew up in public schools in the 1990s and found that it was education levels, not marijuana use, that led to harder drugs.

Instead of wasting time and energy tracking marijuana trends, maybe the successful campaigns that led to a reduction in teen cigarette smoking should be applied to an equally dangerous threat.

Childhood obesity has a laundry list of health concerns such as Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and osteoarthritis. These are the health issues that should be concentrated on now that there has been a reduction in teen smoking rates.

The generation to come will be healthier because they will have less of a risk of developing lung cancer, chronic obstructive lung disease and strokes.

So compare that with long-term marijuana use, which typically only results in distorted perception, loss of coordination and increased heart rate, and tell me where you think our resources really should be going.    


E-mail: danfleis@indiana.edu