According to the report, 60 percent of repeat marijuana users smoked cigarettes first. Teens who smoke cigarettes are 14 times likelier than their counterparts who have never smoked to try marijuana, six times likelier to be able to buy marijuana in an hour or less and 18 times likelier to say most of their friends smoke marijuana.
"This underscores—for parents, teachers, policymakers and anyone else concerned with the welfare of American children—the importance of intervening to end cigarette smoking in order to help prevent other drug use," said Dr. Cheryl G. Healton, president and chief executive officer of the American Legacy Foundation®. "There is a powerful message for elected officials and policy makers in these findings. Media and public service awareness campaigns – such as the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) and the public service announcements of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America – should direct much of their efforts at stopping kids from smoking cigarettes."
"Congress wisely required ONDCP to obtain a match of airtime from the networks, but it has only sporadically been used to educate our youth on the health effects of tobacco and alcohol – two drugs that cause by far the greatest amount of disease and death in youth – and throughout their life cycles," continued Healton. "We believe that the match from the networks should be used in part for the truth® campaign since it is working and is imperiled," she said.
"President George W. Bush committed last year to reduce the use of all illegal drugs by 10 percent over two years and 25 percent over five years," noted Joseph A. Califano, Jr., chairman and president of CASA. "Because of its widespread use, the only way to achieve such reductions is to cut marijuana smoking significantly. This new report shows that attacking teen cigarette smoking is critical to attaining the Administration's goal. The Department of Health and Human Services 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health released earlier this month found that some five million 12 to 17-year-olds—have used marijuana. Therefore, the number of marijuana users could be reduced as much as 800,000 to 1.4 million (16 to 28 percent) if teen smoking were cut by 50 percent."
The report also found:
- Seventy-seven percent of teens say cigarette smokers are more likely to smoke pot.
- Teens who are current cigarette smokers are more likely to be repeat marijuana users than one-time marijuana users. Among teens who report trying marijuana, those who do not smoke cigarettes are likelier to have tried marijuana only once.
- Fifty-five percent of teens who are current cigarette smokers report that more than half their friends use marijuana, compared with only three percent of those who have never smoked cigarettes.
Even though the risk for teenage cigarette smokers is far greater than that of youth who have never smoked, teens who don't smoke are not immune from using marijuana. Among teens who have tried marijuana, one in three never smoked cigarettes.
