乌鸦传媒

Teens and adolescents increasingly believe it isn't risky to smoke marijuana occasionally, according to new data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

About 77% of adolescents told surveyors that they perceived "no great risk" from smoking marijuana once a month, according to the Behavioral Health Barometer, which examines trends in substance use and mental health among adolescents, teens, and adults.

This figure has been steadily increasing since 2010, when 70.4% of adolescents said they didn't find using marijuana once a month to be especially risky.

"As more states go toward having medical marijuana and having legalized marijuana, that creates a public perception -- including among our impressionable youth -- that it's safe," of Mount Sinai Hospital, who wasn't involved in the report, told 乌鸦传媒.

"It's actually probably not that dangerous if you think about it pharmacologically in folks that are adults over 25, but among youth, it actually is hazardous," Rosenthal said. "They don't know that it can affect brain development."

Since the brain doesn't finish developing until a person is in his or her mid-20s, Rosenthal said using cannabis before then is associated with increased risk of other substance abuse and mental disorders like depression.

"I would hazard a guess most youths don't know that," he said.

Using data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) -- which focused on 12-to-17-year-olds -- SAMHSA researchers found that 7.4% said they smoked marijuana in the month prior to being surveyed in 2014 -- a proportion that has increased from 6.7% in 2008. It had peaked in 2011 at 7.9%, but decreased to 7.2% in 2012 and 7.1% 2013.

Overall, 9.4% used some kind of illicit drug in the month prior to being surveyed in 2014, which amounts to about 2.3 million youths.

"As you can see, the numbers are pretty high," said director of Vanderbilt Addiction Center, who also wasn't involved in the study. "I think there's almost a surreal effect in that you look at them and you see how high they are."

Marijuana is still the most commonly used illicit drug among adolescents and teens, but 2.6% of survey participants reported using psychotherapeutics, 0.6% used inhalants, 0.2% used cocaine, and 0.1% said they had used heroin.

About 6% of adolescents and teens reported binge drinking in the month before the survey, steadily decreasing from 8.9% in 2008. Cigarette smoking has decreased as well, with 4.9% of surveyed adolescents and teens saying they'd smoked in the month before the survey.

Past-month nonmedical use of pain relievers fell to 4% among males and 5.4% among females, down from 5.5% and 7%, respectively.

"There's a nice, general -- slow but general -- decline, and that means in some way that youth are starting to understand" the dangers of abusing prescription painkillers that the CDC and other organizations have been stressing for years, Rosenthal said. "That's starting to sink in."

He said the decline may also be the result of combined efforts by state programs as well as individual doctors and patients, which have taken steps to keep prescription painkillers from getting into the wrong hands.

Other highlights of the report included:

• 2.8 million adolescents, or 11.4%, reported a major depressive episode in the year prior to being surveyed for 2014
• Serious thoughts of suicide were highest among 18-to-25-year-olds
• Those who were uninsured, below the federal poverty level, and living in nonmetropolitan areas were more likely to have serious mental illness than those with insurance, above the poverty level, and in metropolitan areas

Also, of the 9.8 million adults with serious mental illness in the U.S., only 68.5% received treatment or counseling in the year prior to being surveyed. Those who were female and those who were insured were more likely to get treatment.

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