SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A San Diego Association of Governments report released Friday suggests marijuana is narrowly the most common substance tried by those in the juvenile justice system.
Ninety-one percent of individuals interviewed from detention facilities in 2017 reported trying marijuana, compared with 90 percent for alcohol and 74 percent for tobacco, according to SANDAG data. Overall, 92 percent of youths had reported trying some kind of substance.
Fifty-six percent of respondants also said marijuana was the first substance they had tried, compared to 25 percent for alcohol.
Overall, those who had used marijuana, alcohol or tobacco reporting getting started before age 13, on average.
When asked how harmful they thought specific drugs were on a four- point scale, 14 percent of respondants said marijuana was "very bad" or "extremely bad." Thirty-six and 59 percent of individuals thought the same for alcohol and tobacco, respectively.
Ninety-seven, 94 and 91 percent of interviewees thought heroin, crack and meth were very bad or extremely bad, meanwhile.
Forty percent of youths reported trying meth by the time they were booked in their detention facility. Ten percent of respondants had tried heroin or crack.
