Facts and Stats

MARIJUANA

Not everyone who smokes marijuana will become addicted—that depends on a whole bunch of factors, including your genes, the age you start using, whether you also use other drugs, your relationships with family and friends, success in school, and so on. Repeated marijuana use can lead to addiction, which means that people have trouble controlling their drug use and often cannot stop even though they want to. Research shows that about 9 percent, or about 1 in 11, of those who use marijuana will become addicted. Marijuana is linked to school failure and can cause negative effects on attention, memory, and learning that can last for days and sometimes weeks—especially if you use it often. Someone who smokes marijuana daily may have a “dimmed-down” brain most or all of the time. Compared with teens who don’t use, students who smoke marijuana tend to get lower grades and are more likely to drop out of high school.

A LETTER TO TEENS

Did you know that teen marijuana use has dropped dramatically since the late 1990s? So, if you were thinking everyone smokes marijuana, they don’t.

Statistics show that about 7 percent, or roughly 1 in 14 teens, report using marijuana in the past month. However, many teens do not consider marijuana to be a harmful drug. Some believe marijuana cannot be harmful because it is “natural.” But not all things that nature provides are good for you—take tobacco, for example, or rattlesnakes? Yikes!

Our goal is to give you the straight facts so you can make smart choices and be your best self—without drugs. And we hope you will continue the conversation and share this information with your friends, parents, teachers, and others!