Cannabis use among teens down significantly in Colorado in 2021

Cannabis use among teenagers in Colorado declined significantly in 2021, according to the latest edition of a state-wide biannual survey released last week.

The investigation Healthy Kids Colorado from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) revealed that the Young people were 35 % less likely to use cannabis in 2021 compared to previous years, continuing a trend that began in 2012 when cannabis was legalized in the state.

Colorado was one of the first states to legalize cannabis for adults, and data on underage use has been a key issue for both supporters and opponents of the reform. This latest survey shows a substantial decline in use among high school students over the past two years.

In the new report, the CDPHE found that just over 13 % of the students surveyed reported having used cannabis in the past 30 days, compared with 20 % in 2013, the year the ministry’s biennial survey was launched.

Statistics on Adolescent Cannabis Use in Colorado

«These findings are consistent with those showing that cannabis regulation policies can be implemented in a way that provides access to adults while simultaneously limiting access and abuse among young people,» said Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML, the leading pro-legalization advocacy group in the United States, to Marijuana Moment.

«These findings should reassure lawmakers and others that adult access to cannabis can be regulated in a way that does not have an unintended impact on young people’s habits,» he added.

In addition to the question of whether they themselves had used cannabis, the new study also reveals that just over 40 % of students reported in 2021 that it would be easy for them to get their hands on cannabis if they wanted to. In 2013, before legal sales began, nearly 55 % said the same.

Another notable finding of the survey concerns the question of whether adolescents say they consider the regular cannabis use as risky. In the most recent biennial data, more than 60 % reported that they considered frequent cannabis use to pose «a moderate or high risk of harm.» In 2013, that figure was only 54 %.

The former governor of Colorado, who currently serves in the U.S. Senate, was opposed to the legalization of cannabis, largely because he feared that this policy change would encourage use among young people. He is now a staunch supporter of the reform.

A decade after legalization, marijuana use among teenagers in Colorado continues to decline. We are the model for legalization across the country. https://t.co/3vZXEkyBPC

— Senator John Hickenlooper (@SenatorHick) June 17, 2022

«I think we've created a pretty good framework. Most of the Other countries have followed suit or have expressed a desire to do so«, said Democratic Senator John Hickenlooper earlier this year, adding that «I was most concerned about children»—including his own young children—who might «use cannabis more frequently» if the state legalized it.

«I think we’ve proven and demonstrated that there’s no increase in experimentation among teenagers. There has been no change in the frequency of use, no change in drug-impaired driving—none of the things we were most concerned about have happened,» said Mr. Hickenlooper.