County says 55 percent of juveniles arrested test positive for drugs - County claims that "marijuana has eclipsed alcohol as the gateway drug for youth"

SAN DIEGO – Fifty-five percent of juveniles arrested and booked in San Diego County in 2011 tested positive for illicit drugs, while 63 percent of adult female and 58 percent of adult male arrestees tested positive, according to an annual study conducted by the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG).

Marijuana has eclipsed alcohol as the leading gateway drug for juveniles in the study. One in two youth reported that marijuana was the first substance they ever tried, up from 40 percent in 2010. (In comparison, 28 percent reported that alcohol was the first substance they tried.) Ni...