A new survey released by the University of Michigan shows that marijuana use with college students is on the rise.
For the first time since 1980, more college students are getting high on a daily basis.
“Daily or near-daily marijuana use was reported by 5.9 percent of college students in 2014 — the highest rate since 1980, the first year that complete data was available in the study. This rate of use is up from 3.5 percent in 2007.”
Even for students who only use it socially or just occasionally, there has been an uptick in the numbers.
“The percent of students using marijuana once or more in the prior 30 days rose from 17 percent in 2006 to 21 percent in 2014.”
Without the study actually saying it, I’d guess this rise in use is an indicator that marijuana is no longer viewed so negatively and as a dangerous drug.
But if one views this is as bad news, there is a silver lining attached. College students no longer smoke as many cigarettes as they used to. Just 13 percent of college students said that they smoked a cigarette in the last thirty days.
While this information is certainly good to know, it is not necessarily an indicator of bad behavior with college students, if you put the use aside.
If cities continue to decriminalize the use of marijuana, use of the drug is likely to continue to increase on college campuses. How we view and measure the drug’s impact on academia would certainly serve as a fascinating follow-up study down the road.
