Youth Marijuana Use Stable Amid Legalization’s Expansion, Feds Report

Lifetime marijuana consumption among high school students has declined during the peak years of state-legal recreational cannabis legalization, a new report from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows. The biennial Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), released on Friday, examined lifetime use among youth as well as the separate measure of current (or past 30-day) marijuana consumption. It found that lifetime marijuana consumption “increased during 2009–2013 and then decreased during 2013–2019.” Given that several large states legalized cannabis for adult use during that latter time period, with the first legal adult-use sales launching in 2014, the data appears to support arguments from advocates that creating a regulated marijuana market will not lead to increased youth use as prohibitionists have repeatedly warned. There was “no change” in the rate of current cannabis use among high school students from 2009-2019, the survey found. When analyzed using a quadratic change model, however, lifetime marijuana consumption decreased during that period. “We are reassured by the latest results from the 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey because they show that youth marijuana use has not increased over the past decade, even as more states across the country have passed progressive marijuana laws,” Sheila Vakharia, deputy director of the department of research and academic engagement for the Drug Policy Alliance, said in a press release. “These results affirm that we must continue to promote marijuana legalization and regulation for its public health and community safety benefits, especially in regards to limiting youth access,” she…

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Source : MJ moment
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