Rates of drug use (including alcohol and tobacco) have declined in almost every conceivable category among eighth, 10th and 12th graders. Tobacco use, in fact, never has been lower. Another example: Less than five percent of high school seniors are abusing the painkiller Vicodin—down from the nearly 10 percent who were misusing the drug five years ago.
Yet not everything is on that positive downward trajectory. While just 7 percent of high school sophomores said they smoked a real cigarette recently, 16 percent admitted using an ecigarette (which represents a year-over-year rise), and 16.5 percent said they smoked marijuana (about the same as last year). In states where pot has been legalized, teens were more likely to have eaten some sort of edible pot product. (The Atlantic)
Paul Asay has written for The Washington Post, Christianity Today, Beliefnet.com and The (Colorado Springs) Gazette. He writes about culture for PluggedIn and wrote the Batman book God on the Streets of Gotham (Tyndale). He recently collaborated with Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family, on his book The Good Dad. He lives in Colorado Springs with wife, Wendy, and his two children. Check out his entertainment blog or follow him on Twitter.