“All my friends and almost everyone I know smokes weed, it’s almost more uncommon to meet someone who doesn’t.”
Those are the words of a senior when asked about how prevalent she feels marijuana usage is among JR students.
In a recent survey of 136 JR students by The Beacon on Instagram, 54 percent of respondents reported having consumed marijuana. With over half of the sample reporting usage, it is clear that marijuana is one of the most common substances teenagers use.
Nationally, according to a 2025 survey by researchers at the University of Michigan, 26 percent of seniors said they used cannabis in the previous year. That was down from 35 percent a decade earlier. For JR students, the Beacon survey found, the most common method of consumption was smoking at 47 percent. But cannabis vape cartridges (carts), which are similar to e-cigarettes except they use marijuana instead of nicotine, are also common, favored by 34 percent of the survey respondents.
While a majority of students reported having consumed marijuana, the frequency of usage and the first usage varied dramatically from student to student.
“The first time I consumed marijuana was like a week before freshman year started, and I probably consume marijuana three or four times a day,” one anonymous senior said. Others had similar stories. One student said they first consumed marijauna during freshman year. “In general, smoke twice a week,” they said.
On the other hand, a different anonymous senior said that, “The first time I smoked was last summer, I was almost 17.” They added that they “don’t do it too often, never more than once a week.”
In general, of those who reported consuming marijuana, 20 percent reported using marijuana every day. Additionally, 25 percent of respondents said they had consumed marijuana on school property or attended school under the influence, with 10 percent saying they do so regularly.
Many teachers and students frequently feel like students come to school under the influence.
One senior said that, while they try to avoid coming to school high, they “have done it before and it wasn’t hard to avoid being noticed or caught at all.” Another senior said, “I come to school high every day, and I have never been caught.”
However, Principal Sah Brown said that the school has seen a decrease in infractions for students using marijuana or other controlled substances. In the 2022-23 school year, there were 51 such incidents, Brown said. However, last year there were only 30 incidents.
“We address situations involving students with controlled substances in a number of ways,”Brown said. He added that the consequences are “aligned to the DCPS disciplinary policy and provide interventions to help address the issue.”
Manager of School Administration and Operational Support Jessica Lawrence said that, last year, the JR counseling department in collaboration with the student Adolescent Substance Abuse, Awareness, and Prevention Club hosted several webinars for families. The webinars were designed to help families understand underage substance abuse and learn techniques for dealing with it.
“Having relationships with adults here can help when students are under the influence of some substance,” Brown said. The school tries to “make sure that we’re connecting them with the social worker or their counselor so we can deal with the issue at hand.”
Many students feel they are aware of the health issues of marijuana use but don’t see it as a major problem. One student said that while he knows about the health risks, he feels “it depends on how much you do it, and the ways in which you’re doing it.”
One student reported already experiencing health risks from marijuana usage. They said that they “used to have CHS (Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome) which is basically like this [condition] that makes you throw up.” They added that, while it influenced their consumption patterns for a while, it does not anymore and they continue to smoke frequently.
The level of marijuana use by JR students reflects a broader shift towards societal acceptance of the drug. As technology for marijuana consumption improves, and as recreational use becomes legal in more places, the drug becomes more and more accessible, especially for teenagers. This makes it harder to catch, and even harder to prevent.
“It’s probably not good for me,” one senior said, “but at the end of the day neither is drinking, and I drink.” •