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Rise in Daily Usage of Marijuana and Cocaine in College Students in the United States

by Reshma Anand on Sep 2 2015 4:56 PM

Nearly 6% of students age group of 19-22 use pot daily or near-daily in 2014 when compared to 3.5% in 2007. But it was less than the 7.2% recorded in 1980.

Rise in Daily Usage of Marijuana and Cocaine in College Students in the United States
There has been a drastic increase in the number of students smoking marijuana daily than it has been in 35 years, shows a new survey.
The survey conducted by the University of Michigan revealed that in 2014 nearly 6% of college students used pot daily or near-daily when compared to 3.5% in 2007. But it was less than the 7.2% recorded in 1980. The survey was done on around 1000 and 1500 full-time college students.

“It’s clear that for the past seven or eight years there has been an increase in marijuana use among the nation’s college students. And this largely parallels an increase we have been seeing among high school seniors,” said Dr. Lloyd Johnston.

“More relaxed marijuana policies in states across the country have probably contributed to a rise in use by teens and young adults, who increasingly perceive the drug as harmless,” said the study.

The study reported that only 35 % of students in the age group of 19-22 thought that regular marijuana use was dangerous in 2014 when compared with 55% in 2006. The percentage of college students using any illicit drug also rose to 41% in 2014 from 34% in 2006.

But still the use of many illicit drugs by college students has dropped off, including synthetic marijuana which decreased to 0.9% in 2014 from 7.4% in 2011. Drugs such as heroin and LSD have also remained low in the recent years.

The use of amphetamines has declined but cocaine may be making a comeback on college campuses, with 4.4% in 2014 reporting to have used the stimulant in the past 12 months compared with 2.7% in 2013.

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