High Schoolers and Weed

It’s no secret that a large portion of adolescents have tried drugs at least once. Marijuana (also known as “weed,” “grass,” “pot,” “dope,” “herb,” etc.) has been the unspoken popular pick for many of these high schoolers.

Marijuana includes a small variety of plants under the genus Cannabis. These plants contain high concentrations of tetrahydrocannabinol, more commonly called THC, which is responsible for the “high” that people get when smoking or ingesting weed.

Now let’s

add “high schoolers” into the equation.

A study by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2016 shares that 1 in 4 American high school students reported using marijuana at least once in their life. Asian students are the least likely to use weed at 16%, while white students’ probability is 20%, Hispanic at 28%, African American at 29%, and Native American the most probable users at 36%.

Age-wise, seniors were the most likely grade-level to use weed. Juniors were second most likely, followed by sophomores and then freshmen.  Some high school students (who have been left anonymous) share their opinions about weed and its use.

An anonymous junior at Valencia High School shares, “I love weed.  The high that I get from it is like nothing that I have ever felt.  It really relaxes my body and takes some weight off my back when I really need it.”

On the other hand, another junior at Valencia High School tells JSR, “If I’m being honest, I don’t really like the feeling you get when smoking weed.  I mostly do it for the social aspect.  Just that idea of being around a group of young, lively, and let’s face it, dumb kids is strangely really comforting.”

As can be seen, many high schoolers have different reasons for trying or wanting to try marijuana. Although it can be debated whether or not adolescent drug use is “good” or “bad,” the numbers do not lie: lots of high schoolers have done it