New Study Finds Teens Smoking More Marijuana; It Also Finds Teens Using Less Alcohol, Cigarettes

The National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) released the results of it 2011 survey of teen drug use, and the findings indicate that teens are smoking more marijuana, but using less alcohol and cigarettes, the Alter Net website reports today (December 20, 2011).

Teens are smoking more weed today because they do not perceive it to be as harmful as did teens in the past.

Indeed, marijuana is less harmful than alcohol and cigarettes, according to NIDA.

The NIDA study found that about 25 percent of teens surveyed said they tried marijuana at least once last year -- a statistically significant rise of about 4 percent since 2007. Additionally, 6.6 percent of 12th graders admitted to smoking weed daily.