Teenagers Trading Cigarettes In For Vaporizers
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More evidence is now emerging about the overall health benefits of the marijuana legalization movement and recent technological advancements. Teenagers between the age of 12 and 17 are giving up cigarettes.
Overall nicotine use is down, but the study did show that the use of vaporizers with nicotine is becoming more popular. The consensus of opinions is that vaporizers are a healthier alternative to cigarettes though, so while more research may need to be done to determine all of the health effects of vaporizer use, it is a step in the right direction.
The report, sponsored by the federal government’s National Institute on Drug Abuse and administered by the University of Michigan, found that 22.9 percent of high school seniors said they had used marijuana within the previous 30 days and 16.6 percent had used a vaping device. Only 9.7 percent had smoked cigarettes.
The survey of 43,703 eighth-, 10th- and 12th-grade students in public and private schools nationwide raised concerns about the popularity of vaping devices, available in countless styles to appeal to different social groups. But it was otherwise optimistic. It found that teenagers’ consumption of most substances — including alcohol, tobacco, prescription opioids and stimulants — has either fallen or held steady at last year’s levels, the lowest rates in 20 years.
But educators and public health officials praised the drop in tobacco use. Dr. Compton noted that in 1996, 10.4 percent of eighth graders reported smoking cigarettes daily. By 2017, that figure fell to 0.6 percent. In 1997, daily smoking among 12th graders peaked at 24.6 percent. By 2017, only 4.2 percent smoked cigarettes daily.
By contrast, rates of marijuana use have remained largely consistent, with occasional small shifts, in recent years. (Studies show, however, that marijuana rates have risen among young adults in the last decade.)
Teenagers are very impressionable and plainly the renewed popularity of marijuana and the innovations of technology is having an effect upon them. Do you think this will impact people’s impression on how ineffective the war on drugs approach was to deterring drug use?
read more at nytimes.com
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