Identical twins living in different states have opposite marijuana habits — here’s why

Through Jelena Martinovic

The US is seeing an increase in marijuana use driven by recreational legalization, a recent study in Addiction magazine shows. Those living in states where adult-use cannabis is legal use it 20% more often than residents of states where marijuana is still illegal.

The study included 3,421 participants from Colorado and Minnesota. They sampled on two occasions: first, before 2014, when selling marijuana was still illegal, and second, after Colorado became recreational in 2014. Over time, the respondents moved, which meant that almost all federal states were represented in the survey.

Interestingly, the study also examined marijuana use patterns in 111 pairs of identical twins, one living in a state where recreational cannabis is legal and one living in a state where legalization is pending.

Given that twins share everything from genes to the same upbringing, the impact of political changes on marijuana use could be measured more accurately, explained Stephanie Zellers, a researcher at the University of Helsinki in Finland.

Photo by Alena Darmel via Pexels

Among the identical twins, the researchers found that marijuana use increased by about 20% in states that legalized recreational cannabis compared to those that didn’t.

“Because this 20 percent estimate comes from the analysis controlling for measured and unmeasured variables, this is the most accurate estimate of the causal impact of cannabis legalization on cannabis use,” Zellers told CNN.

A hot research topic

Meanwhile, a separate study using data from the 2004-2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health showed that cigarette smokers were 10 times more likely to use cannabis than nonsmokers.

As a heated debate rages on over whether or not legalizing marijuana will lead to more young people trying the substance, San Francisco-based cannabis delivery platform Eaze noted an increasing overlap between cannabis use and activities off the couch, including work, fitness and intimacy.

“We are seeing the integration of cannabis into parts of life where we have not seen it before. It’s not about waking up and hitting a bong,” Elizabeth Ashford, vice president of communications at Eaze, recently told Adweek. “Some people take an edible 2-milligram sativa like someone else is drinking espresso in the morning.”

This article originally appeared on Benzinga and has been republished with permission.