I will use the following paragraphs for withdrawal of statistics.
http://www.cedro-uva.org/lib/harrison.cannabis.03.html
“The first national survey of drug use in the general population of the United States was conducted in 1971 under the auspices of the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse (the Shafer Commission). The study focused primarily on marijuana, since marijuana was the only illicit drug thought to be used by a significant number of people. Results from the survey showed 14% of youth aged 12-17, and 15% of adults aged 18 and older had tried marijuana. Use was clearly tied to age with 27% of 16-17 year olds, 40% of 18-21 year olds, 38% of 22-25 year olds, but only 6% of those aged 50 and older and of the 12-13 year olds having ever used the drug. Importantly, 41% of the adults and 45% of the youth reported they no longer used marijuana, and 9% of the adults and 15% of the youth reported they used less than once a month. Two percent of the adults and 4% of the youth who ever used marijuana reported using it several times a day.
A comprehensive national study of illicit drug use in 1972 by the Commission validated its belief that marijuana was the primary drug of use. Less than 5% of the United States population reported any experience with an illicit drug other than marijuana (hallucinogens, heroin, cocaine, stimulants, sedatives, tranquilizers, or inhalants). By age group, the 18-25 year olds reported the most drug experience, their use being about two to seven times higher than either older or younger groups. A startling 5% of junior high (generally 12-15 year olds), 11% of high school (generally 16-18 year olds), and 8% of college students (generally 18-22 year olds) reported daily cannabis use. Contrary to the media portrayal and popular opinion about the vast extent of marijuana and LSD use occurring among young people, the Commission concluded that ‘the most widely used mood-altering drug in America is alcohol.’ About half (53%) of the adults 18 years of age and older, and a quarter (24%) of youth (12-17 years old) had consumed alcoholic beverages in the week prior to the survey.
Data from these national surveys and other indicator data suggest there was virtually no marijuana use in the United States prior to the mid-1960’s. ‘Fewer than one million Americans had tried cannabis by 1965; by 1972, twenty-four million people had smoked marijuana at least once, eight million people were using it regularly, and at least half a million people were consuming it daily’ (Slaughter, p. 420). Cannabis use is almost exclusively marijuana use rather than hashish use in the United States. Marijuana use burgeoned first, but a revolution in the technology and handling of other drugs was also blossoming. ‘Recently compounded psychotropic agents were enthusiastically introduced and effectively promoted, with the consequence of exposing the national consciousness to an impressive catalogue of chemical temptations…’ (Inciardi, 1981, p. 155). Concurrent with increases in marijuana use were increases in the use of most other classes of psychoactive drugs. Although the drug epidemic was initiated by youth and young adults and has continued to disproportionately affect youth, no age group has escaped its consequences.
From the data, it would appear that concern over the problem of youthful cannabis use as expressed in the early 1970s was justified. The Commission’s national surveys served to place the problem of youthful drug use in perspective. These findings help underscore the value of survey data in gaining insight into hidden behaviors such as drug use. Only through the use of well designed and well executed surveys can a society come to gain a clear picture of drug use patterns as it exists within that society. The Commission’s work was crucial to gaining a reliable and valid perception of drug use in the United States in the early 1970’s.”
- The main reason for increased marijuana use is its legalization
- Increase in marijuana use has led to an increase in driving deaths, hospitalizations, and work absenteeism
- Use among kids 12-17 is above the national average and increasing
Coincides with decreasing use of cigarettes
- Great Depression created an increase in marijuana use, initiating a national fear of the drug
- Congress passed the Marijuana Tax Act in 1937, which criminalized the use and possession of marijuana in the United States.
- Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, congress imposed stricter laws and handed out lengthy prisons sentences, starting with a 2-10 year jail time for first time offenders.
- In the 60s, marijuana became extremely popular with the white upper middle class
- In the 70s, congress repealed many of the marijuana laws made in the 50s
- Weed was separated into another class from other narcotics and was becoming even more accepted by society.
- America experienced several waves of an anti-marijuana movement: the parents movement against marijuana in the late 70s, Reagan’s Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, and Bush’s war on drugs in the early 90s
- Marijuana was first legalized by California in 1996.
I feel like statistics will definitely play a substantial role in your paper, as this showcases the trends of marijuana use. However, when you write the paper, make sure you don’t inundate the reader with these statistics and place them strategically.