US marijuana legalisation has not led to rise in use by adolescents, study finds

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Data on one million teenagers shows marijuana use did not increase in US states where it was legalised, with fall among youngest children, authors of study find

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“Our findings provide the strongest evidence to date that marijuana use by teenagers does not increase after a state legalises medical marijuana,” said Dr Hasin. “Rather, up to now, in the states that passed medical marijuana laws, adolescent marijuana use was already higher than in other states.”

That still gave cause for concern, she suggested: “Because early adolescent use of marijuana can lead to many long-term harmful outcomes, identifying the factors that actually play a role in adolescent use should be a high research priority.”

Among the youngest students surveyed, the 8th graders, marijuana use actually dropped. The authors speculate that the older students’ views on the drug may already have been fixed before medical legalisation, but that those who were younger were less likely to view it as recreational once medicinal use was authorised. Another possibility is that parents were taking a more vigilant and robust stance against it, the authors said, adding that this warranted further investigation.

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