Recreational Marijuana Laws Result In Declining Cannabis Use

The move to legalize marijuana across various states in the US has proved to be a hit. Legal cannabis has been front and center for quite some time now. The legalization wave has developed a lot of opportunities for those looking to get involved in the industry. Beyond cultivation and distribution, many scientists are looking to further the development of cannabis testing. Many feared that legal marijuana might encourage teens towards consuming marijuana, but studies actually imply the opposite.

Marijuana Survey Says

A survey was conducted with the help of the biennial youth health survey (by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) came into light. It was a study of over 1.4 million adolescents during the time period of 1993 – 2017. In between this time frame, the US had seen 27 states embracing medicinal marijuana legally and 7 states implementing lawful regulations for marijuana’s recreational use. The study suggests that while the adoption of medicinal marijuana had no impact on the number of teens abusing marijuana, the recreational laws brought about some changes as implied by the 9% fall infrequent marijuana use by teens.

The Fall Of Teen Marijuana Use

Being That this was a controlled testing environment the end result would imply the fall in teens using marijuana. The study shows cause that the legality requires age proof as medical dispensaries could replace the drug lords, thus reducing the number of teens consuming cannabis. Biologist Nathan Lents suggests that the drop in the numbers is due to the elimination of the stigma/ taboo around the drug. The stigma around marijuana being harmful makes a teen, especially a boy go around the laws and show his daringness to peers. A Boston College professor further argues that the increased awareness and openness around marijuana might have led to the drop of numbers.

The info on the study is limited due to the fact that it fails to directly correlate the fall in a number of teens consuming marijuana to the passing of recreational marijuana laws in the states. Moreover, the country has anyway been seeing a progressive decline in this number for the past two decades, meaning that the recreational laws might have nothing to do with the 9% drop.