Marijuana Use Rises in Popularity Among Teens

 By Join Together Staff | December 14, 2011 

Marijuana use is gaining in popularity among teens, according to Monitoring the Future, an annual survey of eighth, 10th, and 12th-graders, The New York Times reports. The survey found one of every 15 high school seniors smokes marijuana on an almost daily basis.

About 25 percent of teens who took part in the study said they used marijuana in the past year, an increase from 21 percent in 2007. Daily marijuana use is at a 30-year peak among high school seniors. The findings indicate a decline in the perceived risk of harm associated with marijuana use, according to a news release by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which funds the survey.

R. Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, told the newspaper he believed the increasing prevalence of medicinal marijuana was a factor in the uptick. “These last couple years, the amount of attention that’s been given to medical marijuana has been huge,” he said. “And when I’ve done focus groups with high school students in states where medical marijuana is legal, they say ‘Well, if it’s called medicine and it’s given to patients by caregivers, then that’s really the wrong message for us as high school students.’”

Cigarette and alcohol use are at their lowest point since the survey began in 1975. Alcohol use in general and binge drinking in particular continued to gradually decline among teenagers. Energy drinks continue to be popular among teens—about one-third said they drink them.

The survey found 11.4 percent of high school seniors said they used synthetic marijuana, known as “Spice” and “K2,” in the past year. This was the first year the survey included questions about synthetic drugs.

Use of prescription drugs such as Vicodin and Adderall declined, as did use of sedatives and tranquilizers, the article noted. Cocaine use also decreased.

Clergy Matter

Over the years, I would estimate that two thirds of the human hurt I have encountered in the people I serve has directly resulted from active addiction – or from living with or having lived with an addicted person. 

–Rev. F. Anthony Gallagher, MA, Toledo , OH   

Clergy can, should and must make a difference in the pain and confusion felt by so many of their congregants, but they must first understand the role that alcoholism and drug addiction play in the insidious social and spiritual erosion plaguing so many of their congregation’s families. Participation in a faith community does not protect against addiction creeping in and destroying a family, but a knowledgeable and caring pastor can foster an openly supportive and healing faith community that invites the suffering to learn and heal – emotionally, physically and spiritually. 
 
Clergy see the same headlines as their congregants – about drug busts, fights over “medical marijuana,” drunk driving and underage drinking creating chaos and death – making it is easy to ignore the great number of people suffering in silence in their own congregations. Yet, washing over the work of all congregational leaders and their pastoral staffs is that alcohol that still hurts more children, families, businesses and congregations than any other drug. The barriers to clergy taking an active role in mitigating the impact on their congregation’s children and families could readily be removed with understanding... 

Many afflicted families are in great pain, confused and afraid, and suffering in silence. They often don’t fully recognize the core source of their family’s problems. Too many have clergy who still do not know how to approach them, what to do, or what to say to be effective. The faith community’s ability to carry out its important role in freeing afflicted families from the addiction trap will be dependent on enlightened clergy leadership that also fosters enlightened and supportive lay leadership to address this issue. The Clergy Education and Training Project® works to make this a reality.
Sis Wenger
President/CEO
National Association for Children of Alcoholics (NACoA)

Full article at: http://www.drugfree.org/join-together/addiction/clergy-matter?utm_source=Join+Together+Daily&utm_campaign=
ff8012c243-JT_Daily_News_Clergy_Matter1_3_2012&utm_medium=ema

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