Survey: High school kids say pot is easy to get, not harmful

SEATTLE (AP) — Washington high school students who participated in a statewide survey say marijuana is easy to get and they do not perceive any risk from smoking pot once or twice.

State health officials say that while high school smoking of tobacco continues to go down, marijuana use has remained stable since the last healthy youth survey was conducted two years ago.

More than 200,000 students in grades 6, 8, 10 and 12 in Washington public schools took the survey in October. They answered a variety of questions about their health and behaviors.

About 72 percent of 12th graders and 61 percent of tenth graders said they perceived no or low risk from trying marijuana once or twice. And 66 percent of 12th graders and 53 percent of 10th graders said marijuana is easy or very easy to get.