Teens Really Prefer Marijuana to Tobacco: Teen cigarette smoking is on the decline. But unfortunately, they may just be replacing cigarettes with something else. We’ve covered both tobacco and marijuana frequently here, but now a new study implies that teenagers may be choosing one over the other.
Researchers at Pennsylvania State University recently published the results of a 36-year-long survey of trends among U. S. High school seniors in recent marijuana use and associations with other substances. The study focused on the use of alcohol, marijuana, and cigarettes by almost 6000 high school seniors.
The good news from the study reports that teen cigarette use is finally on the decline. Study author Stephanie Lanza says our analysis shows that public health campaigns are working fewer teens are smoking cigarettes. But she followed up by saying, we were surprised to find the very clear message that kids are choosing marijuana over cigarettes, a bold statement that is relatively devoid of nuance. It is true. The study shows that since the 90s, marijuana use amongst teens has been on the rise, with 22% of the high school seniors reporting marijuana use in the last 30 days.
Do Teens Really Prefer Marijuana to Tobacco?
It is also important to note that 22% is less than the 30% of teens who reported marijuana use when the study began in 1976, and that was before it became legalized in several states. Additionally, in some reports, the incidence of marijuana use among high school seniors found in the study is being compared to the approximately 19% that report use of conventional tobacco cigarettes. And it’s easy to misinterpret this comparison, as teens are choosing THC over nicotine.
That’s not a conclusion that could drawn here. We know that today’s teens prefer their nicotine from other sources. Studies by the FDA and CDC indicate that hookah and electronic cigarettes are now the preferred methods of nicotine exposure, and adolescent use of both doubled.
This is a case of technology advancing beyond the design of a scientific study, and it’s this type of evolution that makes data from long-term health studies like the Penn State study so difficult to interpret. Data are just data, and it’s important that scientists and the media understand the limitations and in some cases, the social context in which that information exists. So are teens choosing the less addictive psychoactive compound THC over nicotine?
Teens Preferring E-Cigarettes
Probably not. But I think we can all agree that reduction in conventional cigarette use is a universally good thing. So which is better for you, vaping or smoking pot? Now, much like E-cigarettes, vaporizing marijuana is still a relatively new thing. So it’s hard to say exactly what the long-term effects are.