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Marijuana mess: six years ago, this teen smoked marijuana for the first time. Before long, he was hooked on the drug and breaking the law to support his habit.

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Michael Wilson * was 12 years old the first time he smoked a marijuana joint. "All of my friends were smoking," Michael, now 18, tells Choices. "The way people were talking about it, they glamorized it. It was something I wanted to try. I wanted my friends to accept me."

That experience began a terrible time in Michael's life. Within a month, he was smoking marijuana every day, often getting high as soon as he got out of bed in the morning. His abuse of marijuana led him to start dealing drugs, which resulted in his eventual arrest. In short, drug abuse almost ruined Michael's life.

Abused by Thousands

Marijuana is the most widely used drug among teenagers in the United States. Every day, nearly 3,600 young people smoke marijuana for the first time. While most will not become addicted to marijuana, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) estimates that one in 10 people will become dependent on the drug.

"Even when they see it's having harmful effects on their lives with their relationships, with their schoolwork, with their ability to perform athletics--they may not be able to stop," says Susan Weiss, chief of the Science Policy Branch at NIDA.

Michael, who is from Paterson. New Jersey, mistakenly believed that marijuana wasn't harmful. "Because it grew on land, I thought it was OK," he says. in other words, Michael thought that because marijuana comes from a plant, it was a natural product that was safe.

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Marijuana vs. Tobacco

Weiss counters that "tobacco is from a plant too, and it's obviously not healthy." Marijuana smoke contains many of the same chemicals as tobacco....

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