Cannabis has overtaken tobacco as one of the recreational substances of choice among high school students in Costa Rica. Such was the conclusion reached by the Institute on Liquor and Substance Abuse Research (Spanish acronym: IAFA) following its Fourth National Survey in secondary schools.

The longitudinal survey, which was conducted in 2015, has been put through various comparative studies in recent days. The studies show that 15.1 percent of high school students in Costa Rica have smoked pot at some point in their lives; this figure suggests an increase of 1.5 percent in comparison to 2012.

Consumption of tobacco and liquor, on the other hand, has diminished considerably since 2012. The number of young, habitual ganja smokers has dropped slightly from 5.1 percent to 4.9 percent. The rate of casual tokers in high school has increased slightly from 14.6 to 15.1 percent.

Although smoking weed may be on the rise among secondary school students in Costa Rica, it is important to note that booze is still the prevalent recreational substance within this population. Nearly half of all high school students have consumed alcoholic beverages, and almost 20 percent of them get drunk on a regular basis.

The “gateway age” at which high school students are starting to smoke grass in Costa Rica is between 13 and 14. To this effect, and on average, they are introduced to reefer just a few months before they hit the bottle for the very first time.

While presenting the results of the survey, IAFA researchers noted that the use of tobacco among high school students fell by five percentage points since 2012, which coincides with the smoking reduction programs put in place in the wake of the enactment of the Tobacco Control Law in Costa Rica, which has created a significant drop in tax revenue and a major increase in smuggling.