Posted this on Huffington Post but they've been slacking on getting it  up there.
Mason Tvert
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Teen Marijuana Use Up, Alcohol Use Down -- A Good Thing?
By Mason Tvert, Executive director and co-founder, SAFER

Marijuana use is up and alcohol use is down amongst America's teens,  according to the annual Monitoring the Future survey released today by  the National Institutes of Health.

As could be expected, U.S. Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske has been all over  the news making statements about how "we should be very concerned  about these marijuana numbers."  Of course we should always be  concerned about teens' use of alcohol and/or marijuana, and we all  want young people to remain "drug free."  But might there be a silver  lining here?

Is it not in fact good news that, among those teens who are choosing  to use such intoxicating substances, they are increasingly choosing to  use the less harmful of the two?  Every objective study on marijuana  has concluded that it is far safer than alcohol for the user and for  society.  Whereas alcohol contributes to overdose deaths, significant  long-term health problems, serious injuries, and violent crimes,  marijuana has never been found to contribute to such problems.  In  other words, if teens are going to use an intoxicating substance, they  pose far less harm to themselves and to others if they choose to use  marijuana instead of alcohol.

Yet, according to the same Monitoring the Future survey, teenagers  have for years been reporting higher levels of alcohol use than  marijuana use, and up until now the data has often shown that many  teens perceived greater risk in using marijuana relatively  infrequently than drinking relatively frequently. This is surely  thanks to years of over-the-top propaganda  demonizing marijuana and  equating it to other far more dangerous drugs.  Compare that to beer  and liquor commercials that ensure viewers - adults and children alike  - that alcohol makes things more fun and exciting, and can result in  scantily clad women wanting to party with you.

It came as little surprise that the drug czar is blaming the change in  attitudes on the proliferation of medical marijuana laws and public  debate surrounding the subject.

<blockquote>"We have been telling young people, particularly for the  past couple years, that marijuana is medicine," the former Seattle  police chief argued. "So it shouldn't be a great surprise to us that  young people are now misperceiving the dangers or the risks around  marijuana."</blockquote>

Apparently the drug czar is upset that more in-depth news coverage of  the medical marijuana issue is having more effect than his anti- marijuana ad campaign, which by the way has not only been found to be  ineffective but also counterproductive.  According to a report  commissioned by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, repeated  exposure to the Office of National Drug Control Policy's anti-pot ads  could be leading to young people viewing marijuana use as more  socially acceptable.

It seems like somewhat of a jump to suggest that increased public  discussion of the medical benefits of marijuana is to blame for more  young people experimenting with it for non-medical purposes.   Countless studies have confirmed that youth marijuana use has not  increased following the passage of medical marijuana laws; it has  actually declined.

Or maybe the drug czar is on to something.  Maybe it's just that there  is actually a fact-based debate on marijuana occurring these days, and  young people - not being the complete idiots he assumes they are - are  beginning to understand the relative harms of marijuana, particularly  in relation to alcohol, the other intoxicating substance with which  they are familiar.  As the drug czar has also been noting, increased  education about the harms of binge drinking has resulted in less binge  drinking.  So doesn't it make sense that, in conjunction with that,  increased education about the relative safety of marijuana has  resulted in more young people choosing marijuana?  Shouldn't it be  viewed as a positive when teens use the education they are receiving  to make better informed, evidence-based decisions?

In the end, yes, the latest Monitoring the Future survey should raise  eyebrows.  But not just because it confirms that many teenagers are  experimenting with alcohol and marijuana - something we've known for  years.  It should also raise eyebrows because it is indicative of  progress.

This is not to say that teens using marijuana - even when it's instead  of alcohol - are making an all-around good choice.  It's simply saying  that more of them are now making the safer choice.
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Mason Tvert is the executive director of Safer Alternative For  Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER) and coauthor of Marijuana is Safer: So  why are we driving people to drink?"
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