Does legalization increase the likelihood of teenage use? New study might surprise you

Through Jelena Martinovic

Michigan State University researchers found that legalizing marijuana isn’t leading to more young people trying the substance. In contrast, this is not the case for adult users, as the number of those deciding to try marijuana for the first time has increased in states where recreational marijuana is legal.

The study found no evidence of an increase in 12- to 20-year-olds who are prohibited from buying or using recreational marijuana because it is considered illegal.

Photo by Eliott Reyna via Unsplash

“We offer a tentative conclusion on the importance of public health,” wrote the authors of the peer-reviewed research article published last month in the journal PLOS One. “Legalized cannabis retail sales could be followed by an increased incidence of cannabis outbreaks among older adults, but not among minors who cannot purchase cannabis products at a retail store.”

The authors, who used public data from more than 800,000 respondents to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, emphasized that their goal was to examine frequency of use, or timing of first use of cannabis after adult use was legalized .

“[T]Here there was no political influence on the occurrence of cannabis in the underage adolescent population after adults were allowed to purchase cannabis in retail outlets,” they wrote.

Conflicting results

Meanwhile, recent government-funded studies also showed a decline in the use of marijuana and other controlled substances by young people.

After Michigan’s annual Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey showed an unprecedented year-over-year decline in 8th, 10th, and 12th grade students, Coloradans followed suit.

RELATED: Cannabis vaping among teens higher than ever, especially among high school seniors

Results from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s (CDPHE) Healthy Kids Colorado Survey showed that young people were 35% less likely to use marijuana in 2021 than in previous years.

Still, studies like the UC San Diego New Center Observational Survey, which showed conflicting results, continue to caution that adolescent cannabis use is an important issue.

RELATED: Cannabis use in teens dropped dramatically, government-funded study confirms

Finally, according to experts from UCL and King’s College London, adolescents who use marijuana are three times more likely to develop a cannabis use disorder than adult users.

“Cannabis addiction is a real problem that teenagers should be aware of as they seem to be much more susceptible to it than adults,” said Dr. Will Lawn, lead author of a study recently published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology. “There are many concerns about how the developing teenage brain might be more vulnerable to the long-term effects of cannabis, but we found no evidence to support this general claim.”

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