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Thread: We've seen a few questions about the impact of cannabis legalisation and regulation on youth use – and whether it's really associated with a reduction in that use. Yep, it is. A CDC study last October found teen use fell after legalisation. https://www.westword.com/marijuana/cdc-youth-marijuana-use-dropped-in-states-after-legalization-including-colorado-11510807
The CDC study backed up other studies, including this one published July 2019 in JAMA Pediatrics, which found legalisation was associated with an 8% drop in high schoolers using cannabis in the past 30 days and a slightly higher fall in frequent use. https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/08/health/recreational-marijuana-laws-teens-study/index.html
By 2017, five years after voting to legalise, Colorado had gone from having to the highest rate of adolescent cannabis use in of any US state to seventh, and the rate has continued to decline. https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/marijuana/marijuana-use-among-colorado-teens-declines-again-government-report-shows
A study this year found that teen admissions for Cannabis Use Disorder had fallen more quickly in the the first two legal states, Colorado and Washington, than in states that continue to prohibit, echoing another study last year. https://www.psypost.org/2020/08/adolescent-treatment-admissions-for-cannabis-use-disorder-fell-in-washington-and-colorado-after-legalization-57764
The most prodigious fall in youth use has been in Canada, where the government agency Stats Canada found in February that use by 15-17 year-olds had nearly halved in the 18 months since legalisation. Use by those under 24 was stable. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/82-003-x/2020002/article/00002-eng.htm
The association of legalisation with declining teen use seems clear, but the "why" is less so, especially given that it coincides with a modest increase nationally in US adult use *and* decreased perception of cannabis risks.
One factor might be the sharp decline in perceived availability of cannabis among US teens that has tracked alongside successive legalisations. Age restrictions do seem to have an impact. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28930065/
Colorado and other states also introduced educational programmes alongside legalisation. The loss of a novelty factor around cannabis might also be significant. And maybe simply having honest conversations is a good thing.
