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Marijuana: a Gateway to Self-Destruction

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Marijuana: An Addictive Drug for Teens

Amina Saad

Substance Abuse Counseling

August 1, 2013

Argosy University

Marijuana is the most popular illicit psychoactive drug amongst millions of people world wide (Inaba & Cohen, 2011). Today marijuana is a popular drug amongst teens and remains the most commonly abused drug amongst them by a wide margin (New Port Academy, 2013). It is an addictive substance for teen’s recreational use. The 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that the use among marijuana among 12 to 17 year olds increased 9 percent from 2008 to 2009, (ONDCP, 2013). According to New Port Academy (2013), A study funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse found that in 2002, more than 10.8 percent of all 10th graders and 32.4 percent of 12th graders abused marijuana at least once in the last year. It was also found that in teens between the ages of 12 to 17, boys were more likely to use marijuana than girls, (2013). “Marijuana effects a juvenile brain more severely than an adult brain,” (Inaba & Cohen, 2011). Among adolescents, alcohol use is first and marijuana use follows.

As of 2011, Marijuana became legal in 16 States in the United States (Inaba & Cohen, 2011). According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), there has been increasing efforts to legalize marijuana which can cause marijuana to drop in price, increasing the use of the drug (2013). Keeping it illegal keeps the price of marijuana up keeping the use rates low. Most marijuana users or those with marijuana in their possession do not go to prison. According the ONDCP, a survey by the Bureau of Justice Statistics showed that .7 percent of all state inmates were imprisoned for marijuana possession only because they had pleaded down from a more serious crime (2013). For every joint smoked, one arrest is made for every

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