Ive heard that 60% of teens in drug treatment have a primary marijuana diagnosis. Doesn that prove that marijuana is very addictive?
The Institute of Medicine found that: “Compared to most other drugs … dependence among marijuana users is relatively rare.” “In summary, although few marijuana users develop dependence, some do. But they appear to be less likely to do so than users of other drugs (including alcohol and nicotine), and marijuana dependence appears to be less severe than dependence on other drugs.” [9] Furthermore, use and addiction are not the same; most of the teens in drug treatment are there for use rather than for addiction. The majority of those “marijuana dependent” teens were referred to drug treatment by the criminal-justice system (53.6%), by schools (10.5%), or by “other community” sources (such as defense attorneys who are trying to save their clients from criminal convictions) (8.1%). [10] Drug treatment often serves as an alternative to criminal punishment or penalties at school. If anything, the 60% statistic proves that marijuana is too easy for teens to acquire. It does not prove that m
