Teen Drug Abuse: Cigarette Smoking Down But Teen Pot Use Remains a Concern, Says Study

The National Institutes on Drug Abuse (NIDA) does its survey of cigarettes, alcohol and drug use among teenagers annually and, this week, the institution revealed good news to the public. However, along with this, NIDA also discovered some alarming results.

NIDA researchers from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor revealed that cigarette smoking and alcohol drinking have had significant drops among teenagers in the United States. "These are some of the lowest numbers we have ever seen," confirmed NIDA Director Dr. Nora D. Volkow to CBS News. "Overall this is very good news."

However, while there's reason to feel heartened with the survey's findings, researchers pointed out one area of grave concern, especially to parents and community leaders. The reason why teenagers are smoking cigarettes less these days is because they are smoking marijuana more. In fact, the survey has revealed that the rate of marijuana use has remained flat and steady, but its numbers are higher compared to cigarette smoking.

"People have an association that [marijuana] has medical, therapeutic benefits," Volkow told CBS News. However, the expert noted its medicinal effects won't actually help teenagers, "because of marijuana's potential deleterious effects on the developing brains of teenagers," per Aljazeera.

Other results of the survey indicated that use of drugs like ecstasy and molly among teenagers has declined since 2010, while heroin use has also gradually fallen. Teenagers using prescription medication apparently source these out from people close to them such as friends or family members. However, a third of the survey's respondents said they tend to abuse their own prescriptions.

"We cannot be complacent," Volkow said, per The Atlantic. "The rates of drug use, legal and illegal, are still very high."

"While today's news about substance use among teens is mostly positive, we cannot let that take our focus off of the prescription drug and heroin crisis among other age groups. As a country, we need to focus more of our attention and resources on prevention and early intervention, rather than cleaning up a problem once it has reached epidemic levels," said Marcia Lee Taylor, president of Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, in a press release.

Substance abuse counselors suggest taking a proactive approach with teens and drug abuse by constantly talking to them. "The conversation is the first part so it's not a lecture series and it's not parents screaming at kids," said Sally Reames of The Community Healing Center via WWMT.

The survey was done among 40,000 8th, 10th and 12th grade students across the country.