"Marijuana appears to be readily available to almost all 12th graders; in 2005 86% reported that they think it would be 'very easy' or 'fairly easy' for them to get it -- almost twice the number who reported ever having used it (45%).
"After marijuana, 12th-grade students indicated that amphetamines are among the easiest drugs to obtain (51%)."
Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States.
The percentage of youth aged 12-17 indicating a great risk of smoking marijuana once a month remained unchanged between 1999 and 2000 (37.2% in 1999 and 37.7% in 2000).
Marijuana contains more than 400 chemicals, including most of the harmful substances found in tobacco smoke. Smoking one marijuana cigarette deposits about four times more tar into the lungs than a filtered tobacco cigarette.
Harvard University researchers report the risk of a heart attack is five times higher than usual in the hour after smoking marijuana.
The risk of using cocaine is estimated to be more than 104 times greater for those who have tried marijuana than for those who have never tried it.
Smoking marijuana can injure or destroy lung tissue. In fact, marijuana smoke contains 50-70% more of some cancer causing chemicals than does tobacco smoke.
Reaction time for motor skills, such as driving, is reduced by 41% after smoking one joint and is reduced 63% after smoking two joints.
There have been over 7,000 published scientific and medical studies documenting the damage that marijuana poses. Not one study has shown marijuana to be safe.