The legalization of medical marijuana made so many people worried about it. But the latest reports collected from different states of Montana from various high schools showed that the use of pot was decreased despite of its legalization.
The results from the 2011Youth Risk Behavior Survey, released by Montana Office of Public Instruction, which collected information from more than 9000 Montana high school students, showed that 39% of them had tried marijuana which is 3% down from two years ago. And when asked whether they used marijuana in the past month, 21% said yes, which was down 2% from the past two years and 4% down from 1999.
Apart from these the Montana Education Office also pointed to a number of positive trends like:
- Decrease in alcohol abuse. 38% of the state high school students had a drink in the past month, which is down 43% two years ago and from 58% in 1999.
- Drop in binge drinking. Having five or more drinks at a sitting which is called as binge drinking decreased from 30-25% in two years.
- 44% of the high school students had tried a cigarette, which is a drop from 70% in 1999. This shows the drop in cigarette smoking too.
- The number of students who said they were offered illegal drugs on school property jumped from 21 to 25 percent in two years.
- The number of students who ever tried marijuana was 5 percent below the state average, and current users were 2 percent lower.
The officials belonging to the survey said that this survey showed the importance of continually engaging youth in frank conversations about risky behaviors.