American Medical Association Study Said that Legalization Has Not Increased Cannabis Use in Youth

BY: Chronic Staff | Recent News | published September 24, 2021

After states enact legalization for medical or adult use, youth marijuana did not increase as a conclusion in a study published in a scientific journal this week.

It was observed that establishing regulated cannabis models leads to lower marijuana use among youth.

The analysis was published by the Journal of the American Medical Association and analyzed by federal Youth Risk Behaviour Survey data from 1993-2019 in 10 medical or adult-use states. There are existing studies upon which it was built upon. It is the existing studies on the impact of cannabis reform on youth consumption that have the same conclusions.

As per the researchers, the adoption of recreational cannabis legalization was not associated with current or frequent marijuana use.

In addition, the Medical Marijuana Law (MML) adoption was associated with a 6-percent decrease in the odds of current use. The study received partial funding from a federal National Institutes of Health grant. The study shows youth cannabis consumption decreased in states where adult-use legalization had been in place.

Matthew Schweich, deputy director of the Marijuana Policy Project, said that legalization laws might be decreasing teen use because legal cannabis businesses are required to strictly check the IDs of their customers while the unregulated markets do not have such protections.