POLL: YOUTH POT USE ON RISE IN NH

In a recent national survey, more teenagers reported having used
marijuana in the 30 days prior to the poll than reported having
smoked cigarettes.

It was the first time in 30 years that pot outpaced cigarettes.

In New Hampshire, recent rates of marijuana use among youth have been
among the highest in the country, according to the 2009 New Hampshire
Youth Risk Behavior Survey. In that survey, conducted every two
years, high school students were asked whether they had smoked pot
within the previous 30 days. Since 2003, about 25 to 30 percent have
said they had.

At the same time, however, it appears alcohol abuse among New
Hampshire teenagers has been on the decline.

"Where actually alcohol use has dropped, marijuana use has either
gone up or stayed the same," said Jeffrey Metzger, senior analyst
with the state Department of Health and Human Services.

Pot smoking among high school seniors nationally hit 21.4 percent,
its highest rate since 1981, according to the 2010 "Monitoring the
Future" survey, recently released by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

In the state youth survey, about 40 percent of New Hampshire
residents 18 to 25 years old reported having used marijuana -- the
highest percentage in the country, a ranking the state shares with
Vermont and Rhode Island.

The state survey also indicates that while tobacco use has declined
over the long term, it has, despite anti-smoking campaigns, remained
stubbornly steady among teenagers in the past decade, at about 20 percent.

Drug policy officials say the prevalence of marijuana use in New
Hampshire appears to be closely tied to the perception that marijuana
is fairly harmless.

"New Hampshire is actually No. 1 in having lowest perception of
harm," said Metzger, with the state HHS. "This is correlated to a
high use rate."

This perception may have been bolstered in recent years, with news
reports of more states taking steps to lower penalties for pot
possession, as Massachusetts did in 2010, or permit the use of
medical marijuana, as have Maine and Vermont.

In New Hampshire, Gov. John Lynch has vetoed medical marijuana
legislation, and while advocates intend to again file legislation
this year, the prospect of the Republican Legislature overriding a
gubernatorial veto is less likely than ever.

Still, even backers of relaxed marijuana laws acknowledge that use
among teenagers is problematic.

"It's not something as a society we want. Teenagers are not full
grown," said Nick Murray, president of the University of New
Hampshire chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws (NORML).

But Murray said the current laws contribute to the problem.

"There's going to be high school kids selling to other high school
kids because it's illegal and the supply chain is forced
underground," Murray said.

While pot use does not have the documented adverse health effects of
smoking, drinking or narcotics, some say its use reflects a culture
of drug abuse in a state where 1 in 10 people have addiction problems.

Marty Boldin, director of Manchester's Office of Youth Services,
works closely with troubled teenagers.

"I challenge them whether the use of any mood-or mind-altering
substance would be safe for them," he said. "We're trying to get
young people to make better choices on their own, and when they're
honest about it, they admit it's not really a good choice."