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WASHINGTON (AP) — The government's annual survey of drug use among teens shows marijuana use leveling off after recent increases and some other drug use dropping.
The report from the National Institutes of Health finds 6.5 percent of eighth-graders reporting they used marijuana in the past month. But the rate increases with age. Seventeen percent of the 10th-graders and 21 percent of high school seniors say the used marijuana in the past month. Nearly 6 percent of seniors reported daily use.
Still, the survey finds fewer teens are trying synthetic marijuana. Know by such names as K2 and Spice, the drugs are considered highly dangerous. About 6 percent of seniors said they had used fake pot this year. That's down from 8 percent last year and 11 percent in 2012.
The survey also shows abuse of prescription painkillers is dropping. Six percent of high school seniors reported using the narcotics without medical supervision in the past year.
As for alcohol, nearly 1 in 5 seniors report binge drinking, defined as five or more drinks in a row in the previous two weeks. That's an improvement from 1 in 4 five years ago.
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