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Chapter II (continued)
2. Marijuana
Overall
usage — In 1998, eleven million (5 percent) of Americans
aged twelve and older were current (past-month) marijuana users,
similar to the 11.1 million (5.1 percent) reported in 1997. Approximately
81 percent of current illegal drug users were marijuana users. 28
An estimated 2.1 million Americans tried marijuana for the first
time in 1997. This number increased from approximately 1.4 million
in 1991 to 2.4 million in 1994; it has not changed significantly
since 1994. 29
Current
Marijuana Use (Past-Month)
Source: SAMHSA, National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (various years)
Use
among youth — The 1999 MTF shows that past-month marijuana
use among eighth graders was stable during the past year, but decreased
14 percent since 1996. Lifetime, past-year, and past-month use of
marijuana did not change in any grade between 1998 and 1999. In
1999, lifetime rates of marijuana use were 49.7, 40.9, and 22 percent
for twelfth, tenth, and eighth graders, respectively. Past-year
self-reported marijuana use by twelfth graders remained stable since
1997 (about 38 percent) — down from the 1979 peak of 50.8 percent.
Among eighth graders, disapproval of "trying marijuana once or twice"
increased from 69 to 70.7 percent between 1998 and 1999. Eighth
graders who reported that marijuana was "fairly easy to get" dropped
from 50.6 to 48.4 percent in the same time period. According to
the PRIDE survey, monthly marijuana use for all students declined
from 15.9 percent in 1997-98 to 14.4 percent in 1998-99. 30
The percentage of students who strongly agreed that "marijuana users
in my school are popular" decreased from 17 to 10 percent. 31
A recent analysis by CASA on youth in rural America presents a different
trend. Eighth graders in rural areas have a higher past-month marijuana
rate (11.6 percent) than their peers in large metropolitan areas
(8.6 percent). 32
Marijuana
Initiation Rates
Source: SAMHSA, 1998 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse
Availability
— Marijuana is the most readily available illegal drug
in the United States. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration
(DEA), the majority of the marijuana in the U.S. is foreign-grown.
Mexico, Colombia, and Jamaica are primary source nations; Canada,
Thailand, and Cambodia are secondary sources. 33
Although the full scope of domestic marijuana cultivation is unknown,
the National Drug Intelligence Center indicates that every state
in the nation reports some level of cultivation. 34
Statistics from the 1998 Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression
Program show that the leading states for outdoor cannabis growth
were California, Hawaii, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Combined, these
four states accounted for approximately 75 percent of the total
outdoor-cultivated marijuana plants eradicated in 1998. 35
The largest instance of eradication in 1999 reported by the DEA
was the June seizure of over fifty-one thousand outdoor plants near
the Mississippi River in Arkansas. 36
Average
Age of First Marijuana Use
Source: SAMHSA, 1998 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse
Indoor
cultivation of marijuana provides a controlled environment conducive
to year-round production of high-potency sinsemilla *
and can be accomplished in a variety of settings from closets to
elaborate greenhouses. Indoor cannabis cultivators frequently employ
advanced agronomic practices such as cloning; hydroponics; and automatic
light metering, irrigation, fertilizing, and insecticides to enhance
the rate of growth. Nationally, drug law-enforcement authorities
seized 232,839 indoor-grown marijuana plants in 1998, an increase
from 225,232 in 1997. 37
Average
Price for Marijuana
*Based on annualized data through June 1998
Source: 1999 ONDCP-Adjusted from DEA STRIDE data
Prices
for commercial-grade marijuana have remained relatively stable over
the past decade, ranging from approximately $400 to $1,000 per pound
in U.S. Southwest border areas to between $700 and $2,000 per pound
in the Midwest and Northeast United States. According to data from
the Potency Monitoring Project at the University of Mississippi,
the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content of commercial-grade marijuana
rose from an average of 3.71 percent in 1985 to an average of 5.57
percent in 1998. 38
The average THC content of U.S. produced sinsemilla increased from
3.2 percent in 1977 to 12.8 percent in 1997. 39
Federal
Marijuana Seizures
Source: DEA, Federal-wide Drug Seizure System (FDSS)
*
Spanish for “without seed.” These unpollinated flowering tops of
the female Cannabis sativa L. plant are valued for high tetrahydro-cannabinol (THC) content.
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