Legalizing medical cannabis does not increase use among teenagers

For more than 20 years now, the United States has been a pioneer in the legalization of medical cannabis, even though we focus more on the Netherlands than on France. This perspective now allows us to conduct in-depth analyses of the consequences of this legalization—particularly with regard to youth consumption.

One of the arguments made by opponents of legalization is that it would lead to an increase in marijuana use among teenagers. The magazine *The* Lancet Psychiatry published a study [EN] to the surprising conclusion: the legalization of medical cannabis does not lead to an increase in cannabis use among adolescents. The study was conducted annually from 1991 to 2014 among more than one million adolescents aged 13 to 18 in the 21 states where medical cannabis is legal.

«Our findings provide the strongest evidence to date that the Marijuana use among teenagers is not increasing »after he legalized medical marijuana."

Deborah Hasin, who led this study for 24 years, continues: «The only thing we noticed was that in states that had passed laws allowing medical marijuana, marijuana use among teenagers was already higher before legalization than in other states. And because marijuana use marijuana »Since substance use in early adolescence can lead to many long-term negative consequences, identifying the factors that contribute to adolescent substance use should be a priority.".

This study supports the 2013 findings of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, which traced the Decline in marijuana use among high school students from 22 to 20% between 2011 and 2013. The data had been collected before recreational marijuana use was legalized, but the report clearly showed that the legalization of medical cannabis did not lead to an increase in use among young people. Dr. Larry Wolk, director of the Department of Health and the Environment, said, «As with tobacco, prevention campaigns targeting young people will help ensure that legalization for adults in Colorado does not impact the health of young people.».

In California, where marijuana has been legal without restrictions for a number of years, Use among young people has remained less widespread than in the years leading up to legalization, according to the findings. And if we go back to 2012, the study titled Medical Marijuana Laws and Teen Marijuana Use Use did not notice that legalization led to an increase in use among young people. In fact, the data collected tended to show that use among young people was increasing in states where cannabis was not legalized.

A study often cited by American critics is the National Survey on Drug Use from the University of Michigan. However, the report notes that consumption follows cycles of ups and downs, but that overall, the substance use among young people has fallen from 36% in 1979 to 23% today, despite increased access to cannabis. And despite ever-greater media exposure, cannabis is not attracting more young people.

The study even goes so far as to speculate that legalizing marijuana sends the message that cannabis is not dangerous and is probably not very harmful. This doesn't really fit with the idea of teenage rebellion. Adults who find that Smoking cannabis is cool could therefore be the best way to keep young people from smoking weed!