CAPITAL AREA TOPS STATE AVERAGE FOR POT USE, U.S. SURVEY FINDS

About one of every 11 residents in the Sacramento region smoked pot
during the last month, a usage rate roughly 30 percent higher than the
statewide average, according to a new federal study.

Local residents were more likely than the rest of the state to have a
casual attitude toward pot use.

Just 29 percent of the region's residents saw "great risk" in smoking
marijuana once a month, well below the statewide average of 37 percent.

By contrast, about three-quarters of local residents saw "great risk"
in regularly smoking tobacco.

The study found the highest pot usage rate in Santa Barbara and
Ventura counties, and the lowest rate in Los Angeles County.

The Fresno area was the most likely to be worried about the health
effects of pot usage; Sacramento residents were the least concerned.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration released
the study Friday. It's based on interviews with about 200,000 people
age 12 or older throughout the United States conducted between 2006
and 2008.