Study Hints Cannabis Legalization May Not Increase Teen Use

Researchers have published an article suggesting that legalized retail cannabis for adults does not cause more young people to try marijuana.

The peer-reviewed article is entitled “Estimating the effects of legalizing recreational cannabis on newly incident cannabis use.” It was written by researchers from Michigan State University and appeared in the July 21st edition of the journal PLOS One, reports Benzinga.

The researchers examined data gathered through over 800,000 individual responses to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. The results indicate that new marijuana usage by young people under the age of 21 has not increased in areas where adult recreational use is legal.

These findings are consistent with data released from Michigan’s Monitoring the Future survey and the Healthy Kids Colorado Survey, both of which point to an overall decline in teen marijuana use as compared with prior years.

The authors of the study indicate that the conclusions are tentative and call for additional research on the connection between cannabis policy and teen consumption of marijuana.

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