Teens smoke less in states where medical cannabis is legal, U.S. research shows

Cannabis legalization often comes with a side of parental hand-wringing, warnings of danger and normalizing teen use–all topped with pleas that “Someone pleeeeease think of the children!”

 

 

But research published today in the American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse suggests these fears may be unfounded.

A new study has found that in states that have approved the legalization of medical cannabis, teens actually consume less weed; such states have 1.1 percent fewer teenage cannabis users than those in which medical cannabis is still illegal.

The study included more than 860,000 high school students and examines data collected between 1999 to the end of 2015 in 45 different states.

Researchers relied on data gathered from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-conducted bi-yearly poll that tracks activities such as drug and alcohol consumption in American teens.

“We found that for every group of 100 adolescents, one fewer will be a current user of marijuana following the enactment of medical marijuana laws,” says study leader Dr. Rebekah Levine Coley, a professor of psychology at Boston College.

“When we looked at particular subgroups of adolescents, this reduction became even more pronounced. For example, 3.9 percent less Black and 2.7 percent less Hispanic youths now use marijuana in states with MML [Medical Marijuana Laws].”

While she isn’t sure, Coley has some ideas of how those results may have come about.

“Some people have argued that decriminalizing or legalizing medical marijuana could increase cannabis use amongst young people, either by making it easier for them to access, or by making it seem less harmful,” said Coley.

“However, we saw the opposite effect. We were not able to determine why this is, but other research has suggested that after the enactment of medical marijuana laws, youths’ perceptions of the potential harm of marijuana use actually increased. Alternatively, another theory is that as marijuana laws are becoming more lenient, parents may be increasing their supervision of their children, or changing how they talk to them about drug use,” Coley explained.

“As the first study to concurrently assess unique effects of multiple marijuana policies, results assuage concerns over potential detrimental effects of more liberal marijuana policies on youth use,” reads the study’s conclusion.

Dr. Coley’s research team is now studying whether states with legalized recreational cannabis laws will show similar results.