An effective solution for marijuana abuse by teens must be found! "Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in America today (Nation 5)." "Marijuana refers to the leaves and flowering tops of the cannabis plant. Marijuana is usually smoked on form of loosely rolled cigarettes called joints or hollowed out commercial cigars called blunts (Nation 5)." Marijuana is put into these forms because they look like ordinary cigarettes or cigars. It's like a disguise. The street names for marijuana are pot, grass, weed, Mary Jane, Acapulco gold and reefer. According to some interviews, many teens smoke marijuana to "Get away from it all (interviews)." For many teens, marijuana is a solution to there problems. It's a high that takes them to another level. Other teens smoke pot because they are curious or because of peer pressure. The drug use in America is not decreasing. "Between 1992 and 1995 the marijuana usage among 12-17 year olds doubled. Sixty percent of kids who use mariju!.
ana before the age of fifteen go on to use cocaine. The average age to begin experimenting with illegal substances like marijuana is thirteen (about.com)." "There was a survey in 1995 which stated that 19.9% of eighth graders used marijuana, 34.1% of tenth graders used it and 47.7% of twelfth graders used it (DEA)." By the senior year almost half of American seniors will have already used or tried marijuana once. Marijuana has also lead to using other illegal drugs. Cocaine, crystal meth and LSD are some of the most popular drugs, which are used also. "Columbia University has found that kids that smoke marijuana are 85 times more likely to use cocaine than non marijuana smoking peers (Newsweek 2)." "If drugs did not exist then our governors would have intended them, to make the population more vulnerable to arrest and imprisonment (Vanity Fair 4)." Marijuana use has many problems that range from short term to long effects.
