Teens Are Less Concerned About The Effects of Pot

In a recent report released in USA Today, roughly 70 percent of high school juniors and seniors said that being under the influence of marijuana while you’re behind the wheel of a car is dangerous. That percentage is down almost eight percent from previous years. The number of teens experimenting with pot is also up.

Marijuana is safer than alcohol – or at least that’s the current trend in thinking for teenagers.

The issue at hand is that young adults do not believe that marijuana is as much of a concern as alcohol. They also are less likely to drive under the influence of alcohol but freely admit that they have driven high in more instances than if they were drinking.

They seem to have more fear when it comes to being drunk and the consequences involved, but not so many when it comes to being high. They believe that the side effects of the two differ greatly.

Teens interviewed for the study said that they were more likely to pay attention while driving and their concentration was higher if they had been using marijuana compared to being impaired by alcohol.

The study also indicated that young adults still believe there is a stigma associated with drunk driving and they understand the dangers. They are also less inclined to get behind the wheel of a car and more likely to tell a friend they have had too much to drink. The same is not necessarily true when they have been smoking pot.

The study was conducted by Liberty Mutual Insurance and Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD). SADD spends much of their efforts educating adolescence about the dangers of alcohol and drugs, but since this information has been released they have learned that their focus also needs to include more about marijuana and its effects.