No negative impact of medical cannabis on teen use new study says

Laws allowing the use of cannabis by qualified patients have been enacted since 1996 in ten states of the USA. These laws were often criticized by opponents of medical use of cannabis and partisans of the War on Drugs. One of their principal arguments was the affirmation that medical use would send the wrong message to young people and lead among them to an increase in the drug’s recreational use.

US marijuana policy reform organization Marihuana Policy Project (MPP) recently published a report on the results of a study focused on this issue. The study was based on state and federal survey data.

"No state with a medical marijuana law has experienced an overall increase in youth marijuana use since the law’s enactment. All have reported overall decreases - in some cases exceeding 50 percent in specific age groups - strongly suggesting that the enactment of state medical marijuana laws does not increase teen marijuana use," says the study.

The report further found that states with medical cannabis laws have experienced greater declines in teen marijuana use than the national average.

Click here to download a PDF of the full report

Bushka Bryndova