Youngsters Feel Growing Pressure To Use Marijuana
A growing number of elementary school students believe children their age feel peer pressure to use marijuana, according to a national survey by Weekly Reader, a newspaper for schoolchildren.
More than half the students in grades 4 to 6 responding to the survey said students felt such pressure--nearly twice as many as five years ago, according to the results released last week.
And the proportion of children in those grades who thought students their age had tried marijuana has doubled since 1990, the survey found, from 13 to 26 percent.
The percentage of students who thought their peers used alcohol was also up, from 29 percent in 1990 to 45 percent in 1995.
Between 19,000 and 25,000 students in each of the three grade levels responded to the survey.