Re:Marijuana Legalization Fails in California
by sukuriant on Wednesday November 03, 2010 @04:41AM
(#1864175)
42% for 12th graders
Source: http://drugabuse.gov/infofacts/marijuana.html
42.4 for older people
Source: http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal...
Re:Marijuana Legalization Fails in California
by axod on Wednesday November 03, 2010 @07:10AM
(#1864424)
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/lif_can_use-lifestyle-cann...
Suggests it's 12.3% in the US which I find more believable.
The study you cited seems to ask "...EVER used". Which could just mean took one puff once when very drunk.
Re:Marijuana Legalization Fails in California
by sukuriant on Thursday November 04, 2010 @05:41AM
(#1868267)
Forgive me, but the link you're citing marks 81% by age 45 have tried cannabis at one point. Where are you getting your 12.3?
Re:Marijuana Legalization Fails in California
by Alex3917 on Wednesday November 03, 2010 @09:37AM
(#1864708)
It's actually roughly 85% of Americans have used weed by age 55.[1] The reason the numbers don't normally reflect that is because the age of first use varies widely, so asking what percentage of people currently alive have smoked weed yields a very different answer than asking what percentage of normal people smoke weed during some point of their lives.
http://www.erowid.org/psychoactives/statistics/statistics_ar...
Maybe 25% of the population has smoked weed, and yet these people for the most part aren't facing any penalties. If you are going to have laws, you need a force that is able to enforce those laws, otherwise those laws are a joke and the government is a joke.
Legalizing marijuana is just the state coming to grips with reality. All criminalization has done is cause most generations to thumb their noses and defy a majority of laws that are on the books.