(Youth Medical Marijuana Use and Unmet Health Needs) "Of key importance in the findings are the unmet health needs of these youth. Health issues such as depression, insomnia, and anxiety were significant problems that interfered with these youths' ability to function at school, maintain relationships with family and friends, and feel that they could live a normal life. The level of distress associated with these health concerns, along with the lack of effective interventions by heath care providers and family members appeared to leave them with few alternatives.

(Attitudes of US 12th Graders Toward Legalization of Marijuana, 2013)
"• Table 8-8 lists the proportions of 12th graders in 2013 who favor various legal consequences for marijuana use: making it entirely legal (42%), a minor violation like a parking ticket but not a crime (25%), or a crime (21%). The remaining 13% said they 'don’t know.' It is noteworthy just how variable attitudes about this contentious issue are.

(Characteristics of Cannabis Users, Other Drug Users, and Abstainers) "Zambon et al also found that having a good relationship with a best friend was related to increased use of cannabis, alcohol, and tobacco. Similarly, Hoel et al³⁹ reported that although abstainers are successful in many social arenas, they socialize less frequently with friends than youth who drink, while a Finnish study⁴⁰ indicated that moderate use of alcohol among adolescents was associated with a positive self-image in social relationships. Another

(Impact of Medical Marijuana Laws (MMLs) on Cannabis Use by Youth) "We replicated the findings of Wall et al. (2) that marijuana use was higher in states that have passed MMLs, and our analysis suggests this is unlikely to be a causal association. Our difference-in-differences estimates suggest little detectable effects of passing MMLs on marijuana use or perceived riskiness of use among adolescents or adults, which is consistent with some limited prior evidence on arrestees and emergency department patients (17).

(Proportion of Students Using Any Drug Changes Slowly) "Overall, these data reveal that, while use of individual drugs (other than marijuana) may fluctuate widely, the proportion using any of them is much more stable. In other words, the proportion of students prone to using such drugs and willing to cross the normative barriers to such use changes more gradually.

(Inhalants) "In 2011, there were 719,000 persons aged 12 or older who had used inhalants for the first time within the past 12 months, which was lower than the numbers in prior years from 2002 to 2005 (ranging from 849,000 to 877,000). An estimated 67.1 percent of past year initiates of inhalants in 2011 were under age 18 when they first used. The average age at first use among recent initiates aged 12 to 49 was similar in 2010 and 2011 (16.3 and 16.4 years, respectively)."

("Drug-Infected" Public Schools) "Sixty percent of high school students and 32 percent of middle school students say that students keep, use or sell drugs on their school grounds. For seven of the past eight years, at least 60 percent of high school students have said they attend a drug-infected school."

(Perceived Availability of Illicit Drugs and Likelihood of Use Among Youth in the US, 2012)

(Any Drug Use vs Specific Drug Use) "Overall, these data reveal that, while use of individual drugs (other than marijuana) may fluctuate widely, the proportion using any of them is much more stable. In other words, the proportion of students prone to using such drugs and willing to cross the normative barriers to such use changes more gradually.

(Drug-Related ER Visits) "Patients aged 20 or younger accounted for 18.8 percent (922,953 visits) of all drug-related ED visits in 2010. About one half (45.3 percent, or 417,856 visits) of these visits involved drug misuse or abuse, representing a rate of 476.1 ED visits per 100,000 population aged 20 or younger."