There is a truism going around that it is easier for a high school
student in America to get marijuana then it is for him/her to get
tobacco or alcohol. Is there any research to support this assertion?

Recent data confirms this truism. According to a 2002 survey of 1,000
American teens by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse
(CASA) at Columbia University, marijuana is now ranked by teens as the
easiest drug to buy:

"Few teen-agers say they've tried marijuana, but teens say it's easier
to buy than cigarettes or beer, according to a national survey.

More than one-third of teens polled by the National Center on
Addiction and Substance Abuse said they could buy in just a few hours,
27 percent in an hour or less.

For the first time since the study began in 1996, marijuana edged out
cigarettes and beer as the easiest drug for teen-agers to buy -- 34
percent said it's the easiest of the three, compared with 31 percent
for cigarettes and 14 percent for beer."

Florida Today Newsroom
http://www.floridatoday.com/!NEWSROOM/localstoryA27501A.htm

"Like many drug surveys, the one by the National Center on Addiction
and Substance Abuse at Columbia University was filled with good and
bad news... Officials said the study is disturbing because marijuana
continues to be easily available, even though marijuana use may have
slightly declined.

In one example, teenagers said marijuana is easier to buy than
cigarettes or beer. Twenty-seven percent of those surveyed said they
could acquire marijuana in an hour or less. It was the first time
since the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse began its
annual survey in 1996 that marijuana was said to be easier to acquire
than cigarettes or beer. Thirty-four percent of those surveyed said it
was easiest to obtain marijuana, compared to 31 percent who said
cigarettes and 14 percent who said beer."

Cannabis News
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread13843.shtml

Search terms used in locating this information:

marijuana
teens
teenagers
"easier to buy"

I hope this information is useful. If anything is unclear or
incomplete, please request clarification before rating my answer, and
I'll gladly offer further assistance.

Best regards,
pinkfreud

Thank you!