Alcohol is no longer the most popular drug among American teenagers

Alcohol is the most popular social drug among teenagers. However, a recent study showed that the focus of interest of the younger generation has shifted. Now young people increasingly prefer cannabis. This has medics and scientists worried about the future of the country.

According to data collected in 2000, marijuana use has shown a frightening 245% increase since then. At the same time, the researchers recorded a decrease in the frequency of teenage alcohol use. The information was gathered from calls to poisoning hotlines when help was needed. Alcohol ranked third on the list of causes of poisoning.

The main reason for the change was that cannabis was much more readily available than before. Nineteen U.S. states now officially allow its use. And while this only applies to recreational use, teenagers and young adults can get it much easier than before. Also, over the past 10 years in the U.S., there has been an increase in poisonings due to the abuse of drugs containing narcotic substances.

Lethal outcomes of such incidents are most often associated with the use of opioids. And we are not so much talking about smoking “weed”, as about the use of edible forms of the drug and officially approved vapes with cannabiol. The danger of these forms of drug use lies in the fact that the euphoria occurs not immediately, but after a certain period of time. Teenagers, not feeling the desired effect, drug themselves with cannabiol, but get poisoning instead of pleasure.