U.S. teens smoke more marijuana, but back off other drugs: survey

U.S. teenagers are smoking more marijuana, but backing away from other harmful drugs and doing less binge drinking, according to a report from federal health researchers released Wednesday. Easier access to marijuana provided by new state laws allowing the drug for medical treatment may be a factor, according to the report from the National Institutes of Health. The survey found that roughly 6.5 percent of high school seniors are smoking marijuana daily compared with 6 percent a decade ago and 2.4 percent in 1993, and nearly 23 percent of seniors said they smoked the drug in the last month. The growing use parallels an increase in the potency of marijuana, so the drug can be even more harmful to developing brains than in the past, she added.