More Kids Now Smoking Pot Than Cigarette

It's a fairly sad situation that teenagers in the US will have the belief that smoking pot is safer than smoking v 2 cig] when, actually, neither is secure. A Denver Post article, "Teens' marijuana use increases; fewer see it as dangerous drug", by John Ingold, states "While teenager tobacco smoking has decreased over the past 10 Years, marijuana use is really as high as it has been since the early element of the decade." "Nationwide, 21.4 percent of 12th-graders, 16.7 percent of 10th-graders, and 8 percent of 8th-graders documented having used marijuana before thirty days. Each of these numbers was greater than the number who reported smoking cigarettes previously 1 month - 19.2 percent, 13.6 percent, and 7.1 percent, respectively."What could possibly create teenagers believe smoking marijuana is secure, particularly since they got the information about tobacco and we have seen its' use within a 10 year drop? Can it possibly be that our capital city, Denver, voted to legalize marijuana; that more medical marijuana shops are open in Denver than Starbucks; that it was a barely beaten ballot measure in the last California election; or the hoopla surrounding the greatest Cannabis Convention in the US presently going on in Denver?We have truly done a disservice to your kids, since both tobacco and marijuana have lots of the same ill consequences. "The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) states that marijuana smokers experience respiratory disturbances similar to tobacco smokers, including coughs and lung infections. Also like tobacco, marijuana might increase the threat of heart attack because of its ability to raise blood pressure and heart rate." "Marijuana contains 50 to 70 % more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than tobacco smoke..." Marijuana supporters may claim all they need that they don't smoke as much as cigarette smokers, but that's an unnecessary security - neither is safe.Let us also address the present discussion in the Colorado Legislature regarding the legal control of THC (the primary substance in marijuana) for operating an auto, where the legal and medical communities state the results act like alcohol. The experts tell us you can find emotional effects on the youngster developing brain, including these short-term effects: learning and memory issues, issue with problem solving, distorted understanding, and lack of motor control. Certainly marijuana use has a adverse effect on adolescent education, probably ultimately causing fewer kids going on to college, fewer getting good careers, and so on.I have no problem with medical marijuana use, to ease the pain and enduring of patients with medical needs. But we've only done a huge injustice to our youth by all of the media and hoopla by well-intending people (sic) to get weed on the election ballots, to available medical marijuana shops for revenue, to promote a meeting, and who knows what else.It took decades and millions of dollars to show the tide on tobacco use. It now seems we must start down that way with weed because of the damage already done. One out of five of our senior high school seniors are frequent (in past 1 month) people. None folks want to be on the "highway" with one behind the wheel - and in the difficult job market, these children will soon be left behind producing untold social problems for our communities in the years to come.