We’ve been looking into Millennial’s risky behavior and while 40% admit to having tried drugs (35% admit to having tried marijuana), few have used other illegal or illicit substances. They’re a fairly risk-averse generation and they tend to have a calculated approach as to why they engage in dangerous behavior, if they do at all. Millennials consider if the payoff outweighs the risk, which explains why they’re more inclined to use marijuana than take other drugs since they don’t view it as a big deal. They’ve seen countless characters in movies and on TV smoke pot and their top reasons for taking it are to feel good and reduce stress. A quarter of high school students, one-third of collegians, and 4 in 10 non-students use marijuana, yet these numbers are dramatically lower for harder drugs. 

However, peer pressure still plays into their decision for taking drugs. A quarter say their close friends take drugs and nearly 40% say their other friends use them. Moreover, their friends taking it is the third most popular reason as to why they take drugs, yet less than 10% say the popular kids at school use drugs. They’re sure to note that they don’t take drugs to rebel though; they just want to experiment and relax, which doesn’t mean what they’re doing isn’t dangerous, but it provides insights into why they make the decisions they do…