[robertpaulsen]

"those are the 3 highest recorded numbers since 1985"

That's what the chart indicates.

I say it's due to lax enforcement (marijuana arrests lowest priority), the move towards decriminalization, and the recent medical marijuana laws. All of these changes are lowering the perceived risk of marijuana, while the perceived risk of other drugs remain relatively flat.

You reap what you sow.

[highball]

You reap what you sow.

You appear to be talking about of both sides of your mouth.

Is marijuana use up or down?

[Ken H]

I say it's due to lax enforcement (marijuana arrests lowest priority), the move towards decriminalization, and the recent medical marijuana laws.

Look at these arrest stats for mj--

1970 - 187,000
1979 - 392,000
1991 - 288,000
2004 - 771,000

Let's compare that to past-month mj use.

1970-1979: Arrests double, while past-month usage reaches a peak.
1979-1991: Arrests decline by 25%, past-month usage declines to a multi-year low.
1991-2004: Arrests up over 150%, past-month usage up 40%!

http://www.briancbennett.com/charts/fed-data/crime/intox-arrests.htm

http://www.briancbennett.com/charts/nsduh/nsduh.htm

Therefore, stricter enforcement is assocated with higher past-month use!