Sean Metcalf Every two years, thousands of Vermont teenagers are asked a series of questions about whether they are drinking alcohol, having sex, using drugs or engaging in other risky behaviors. In the most recent installment of the state survey, fewer teens reported drinking or cigarette smoking. On the rise, though, was cannabis use. The 2019 Vermont Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that the number of high school students who reported using pot in the last 30 days had ticked up to 27 percent from 24 percent in 2017. Experts say they aren t surprised but they are worried that even more teenagers will become users when the retail sale of marijuana becomes legal in Vermont next year. That s bad news, they add, because of the drug s effect on developing brains and the risk teenagers run of becoming dependent on it.