Tenth grade students at Miami Trace Local Schools are reportedly smoking more marijuana than cigarettes, according to a February survey.
The survey was given to 10th grade students at both Miami Trace Local Schools and Washington Court House City Schools.
At Miami Trace, 13 percent of 10th grade students reported smoking marijuana in the past 30 days, while 9 percent reported smoking cigarettes.
At Washington C.H. City Schools, the numbers reportedly flipped: A lower number (9 percent) reported smoking marijuana and 13 percent reported smoking cigarettes.
The survey of 10th grade students also revealed that marijuana is viewed as being less of a risk than alcohol, prescription pills, cigarettes, and illegal narcotics, but its use among students nationally appears to be declining.
There is no risk in smoking marijuana once or twice a week, according to 34 percent of the 10th grade students surveyed at Washington Court House City Schools.
At Miami Trace, 21 percent of the 10th grade students surveyed said there is no risk in smoking marijuana once or twice a week.
Every year more and more students report that marijuana is harmless, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
But although more students are perceiving marijuana with less risk, they aren’t using more of it, according to a 2016 report by the University of Michigan, which reports that substance abuse of marijuana among youth has declined since 2012.
Marijuana remains the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
The survey was conducted Feb.24-25 at Washington C.H. City Schools and Miami Trace Local Schools for 10th grade students (ages 15, 16 and 17) by the Drug Free Communities program of Fayette County.
