Teens: Weed is Part of Life

9:54 a.m. | Editor's Note: This post and radio story were produced by Radio Rookies as part of a WNYC series on marijuana called "The Weed Next Door."

As 17-year-old Radio Rookie Temityao Fagbenle puts it, "Once you reach high school, weed is a part of your life." Even if you don't smoke, marijuana is at parties, the corners and parks near schools, and sometimes in school stairwells.

In recent years, research shows fewer and fewer teenagers see using pot as risky. And opponents of the drug blame the changing attitudes at least partly on the rise of legal, medical marijuana.

Two Radio Rookies, Temitayo and Gemma Weiner, spoke with nearly three dozen high school students who smoke weed to learn more about what they call 'the Mary Jane mindset' among two quite different sets of New York City teenagers. Gemma attends private school. She sat down with one friend who can smoke at home, talks openly about marijuana with her parents, and recently got $60 worth, or 3.5 grams, of weed delivered directly to her doorstep.

Meanwhile, students at Temitayo's public school tend to buy smaller amounts, often going "five-five," when each teen puts in five dollars for a dime bag. That's just one of the many differences between Gemma and Temitayo's two worlds when it comes to buying and using marijuana.