Following the enactment of both medical cannabis access laws and adult use marijuana laws, there has not been any significant rise in self-reported marijuana use by adolescents.
- “We analyzed repeated cross-sectional biennial Youth Risk Behavior Surveys drawn from 2011 to 2021 state datasets, weighted to be representative of students in 47 participating states. With parent consent, students from ninth to twelfth grade self-reported prior month use of cannabis, alcohol, cigarettes, and e-cigarettes. … Together, results found no net increases in cannabis or, through spillover effects, alcohol or tobacco use among adolescents in response to the rapid rise of RCL [recreational cannabis legalization] and RCR [recreational cannabis retail sales]. Results suggest that legalization and greater control over cannabis markets have not facilitated adolescents’ entry into substance use.”
- “To guide prevention and use reduction strategies, Public Health — Seattle & King County described recent trends in cannabis use by sex among King County, Washington students in grades 8, 10, and 12 and examined trends in sex-based differences. Data collected during seven 2008–2021 survey periods by the Healthy Youth Survey (administered by the Washington State Department of Health) and restricted to King County students in grades 8, 10, and 12 were analyzed. … The observed overall decreases in cannabis use among students in grades 8, 10, and 12 might be associated with changes in the availability of cannabis among persons aged ≥21 years as well as limited opportunities to engage in use. The period 2012–2014 includes the legalization of nonmedical cannabis in Washington in 2012. Researchers studying the association of cannabis laws with cannabis use among high school students (grades 9–12) have observed similar declines in cannabis use after legalization of nonmedical cannabis. The legalization of nonmedical cannabis for adults aged ≥21 years in Washington with licensed dispensaries requiring proof of age might have affected availability of cannabis to younger persons as well as their opportunities to engage in its use. This, in turn, might have had an impact on use prevalence.”
- “The current study investigated the prevalence of past 30-day cannabis use among US youth by cigarette use, alcohol use, demographics and state-of-residence cannabis legal status in 2021, and examined whether changes in prevalence were modified by these factors from 2013 to 2021. Data were drawn from the 24 states that collected cannabis use data participating in the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) from 2013-2021. … Declines in cannabis use were observed independent of state-level cannabis law from 2013 to 2021 and cannabis use prevalence did not differ significantly by state-of-residence cannabis legal status among the 24 participating states in 2021.”
- “This study examined changes in cannabis use and consequences following recreational cannabis legalization in Canada in a sample of high-risk young adults, addressing the common concern that legalization may precipitate increases in use, particularly in this age group. Rather than detecting increases, however, the results revealed decreases overall, which is broadly consistent with substance use trajectories that might be expected among this age group in the absence of any policy change.”
- “We analyzed if living in a ZIP code with a dispensary (ZCWD) was associated with adolescent cannabis use. Dispensary ZIP codes from public records were matched to self- reported ZIP codes on the Illinois Youth Survey (IYS). We compared past 30-day and past-year cannabis use among youth living in a ZCWD and not living in a ZCWD. … Cannabis use was significantly lower among 10th and 12th graders living in a ZCWD.”
- “This report documents that substance use prevalence among U.S. high school students had been declining for a decade before the COVID-19 pandemic. For the majority of substance use outcomes, prevalence further declined from 2019 to 2021, including for current alcohol use, marijuana use, and binge drinking and for lifetime alcohol use, marijuana use, cocaine use, and prescription opioid misuse.”
- “[T]he percentage of high school students who currently used marijuana decreased overall from 2011 to 2021.”
- “The following review aimed to evaluate the evidence linking population-level health metrics with the implementation of recreational legalization policies. Through a literature review, we identified 32 studies which investigated key metrics, such as cannabis consumption, healthcare-related service use, crime, traffic crashes/fatalities, suicidal behaviors, and other drug use. … To date, the evidence suggests moderate increases in past-month cannabis use in adult populations and no increase in adolescents or young adults.”
- “Cannabis use among teenagers ages 13 and 15 dropped by 3.4 percentage points in 2020 compared to 2018 and 2019. … Use of marijuana in teens ages 16 and 17 dropped 7.3 percentage points in 2020 compared to 2018 and 2019.”
- “Data were drawn from 3 longitudinal studies of youth (spanning 1999-2020) centered in 3 U.S. states: Oregon, New York, and Washington. During this time, Oregon (2015) and Washington (2012) passed cannabis legalization; New York did not. … Change in legalization status across adolescence was not significantly related to within-person change in the probability or frequency of self-reported past-year cannabis use. At the between-person level, youth who spent more of their adolescence under legalization were no more or less likely to have used cannabis at age 15 years than adolescents who spent little or no time under legalization. … Findings are not consistent with changes in the prevalence or frequency of adolescent cannabis use after legalization.
- “The percentage of adolescents reporting substance use decreased significantly in 2021, according to the latest results from the Monitoring the Future survey of substance use behaviors and related attitudes among eighth, 10th, and 12th graders in the United States. In line with continued long-term declines in the use of many illicit substances among adolescents previously reported by the Monitoring the Future survey, these findings represent the largest one-year decrease in overall illicit drug use reported since the survey began in 1975. …
Marijuana: The percentage of students who reported using marijuana (in all forms, including smoking and vaping) within the past year decreased significantly for eighth, 10th, and 12th grade students.• Eighth graders: 7.1% reported using marijuana in the past year in 2021, compared to 11.4% in 2020
• 10th graders: 17.3% reported using marijuana in the past year in 2021, compared to 28.0% in 2020
• 12th graders: 30.5% reported using marijuana in the past year in 2021, compared to 35.2% in 2020.” - “Using data from the YRBS [Youth Risk Behavior Survey] for the period 1993-2019, this study provides updated estimates of the association between legalization and adolescent marijuana use. … Consistent with estimates from prior studies, there was little evidence that RMLs [recreational marijuana laws] or MMLs [medical marijuana laws] encourage youth marijuana use.”
- “The overall percentage of students who reported using marijuana at least 1 time during the previous 30 days in 2019 was not measurably different from the percentage in 2009 (21 percent)…. There was no measurable difference between 2009 and 2019 in the percentage of students who reported that illegal drugs were made available to them on school property.”
- “This natural-experimental study used state Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) data collected from participants in grades 9-12 from 1991 to 2015 in 46 states (N = 1,091,723). Taking advantage of heterogeneity across states in MML [medical marijuana law] status and MML dispensary design, difference-in-difference estimates compared states with enacted MMLs/dispensaries to non-MML/dispensaries states. … This study found no evidence between 1991 and 2015 of increases in adolescents reporting past 30-day marijuana use or heavy marijuana use associated with state MML enactment or operational MML dispensaries.”
Perceived availability of marijuana among young people is falling nationwide
- “Between 2002 and 2015, we observed a 27% overall reduction in the relative proportion of adolescents ages 12-17-and a 42 percent reduction among those ages 12-14-reporting that it would be “very easy” to obtain marijuana. This pattern was uniformly observed among youth in all sociodemographic subgroups. … Despite the legalization of recreational and medical marijuana in some states, our findings suggest that … perceptions that marijuana would be very easy to obtain are on the decline among American youth.”
- “From 2002 to 2014, … the perceived availability decreased by 13 percent among persons aged 12-17 years and by three percent among persons aged 18-25 years.”
Rates of problematic cannabis use by young people has declined for the better part of the past two decades.
- Adolescent treatment admissions for marijuana following recreational legalization in Colorado and Washington, Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 2020 | Declining Prevalence of Marijuana Use Disorders Among Adolescents in the United States, 2002 to 2013, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 2016 | See also: Recent Trends in the Prevalence of Marijuana Use and Associated Disorders in the United States, JAMA Psychiatry, 2016
The enactment of medical cannabis laws is not associated with any causal upticks in youth marijuana use
- “Deregulation of cannabis use has raised concerns regarding its potential effects on health, particularly in adolescents and young adults. … Our findings suggest that MML may have a negligible effect (if any) on cannabis use disorders in this population group.”
- “Based on current evidence, we largely concur with the conclusions of other reviews. Results for adolescents under age 18 are highly consistent in showing negative or insignificant effects of MCL (medical cannabis law) enactment on the prevalence of use. … The relatively few studies that considered the specific provisions of MCLs, such as allowances for dispensaries, have also found little evidence that such provisions matter for adolescent use outcomes.”
- “This study sought to delineate associations between state-level shifts in decriminalization and medical marijuana laws (MML) and adolescent marijuana use. Using data on 861,082 adolescents (14 to 18+ years; 51% female) drawn from 1999 to 2015 state Youth Risk Behavior Surveys (YRBS), difference-in-differences models assessed how decriminalization and MML (medical marijuana legalization) policy enactment were associated with adolescent marijuana use, controlling for tobacco and alcohol policy shifts, adolescent characteristics, and state and year trends. … Neither policy was significantly associated with heavy marijuana use or the frequency of use. … [R]esults assuage concerns over potential detrimental effects of more liberal marijuana policies on youth use.”
The passage of adult use cannabis laws is not associated with any causal upticks in youth marijuana use in those jurisdictions that have enacted them
- “This cannabis policy evaluation project adds novel evidence on a neglected parameter – namely, estimated occurrence of newly incident cannabis use for underage (<21 years) versus older adults. The project’s study populations were specified to yield nationally representative estimates for all 51 major US jurisdictions, with probability sample totals of 819,543 non-institutionalized US civilian residents between 2008 and 2019. … For those aged 12-20-years-old, the study estimates support the hypothesis that RCLs [recreational cannabis laws] did not affect the occurrence of newly incident cannabis use for underage persons.”
- “Objectives: To examine the association between enactment of state RCLs [recreational cannabis laws] and changes in cannabis outcomes by race and ethnicity overall and by age groups in the US. … No changes were observed in any of the cannabis outcomes among participants aged 12 to 20 years of any racial or ethnic group.”
- “Using data from the YRBS [Youth Risk Behavior Survey] for the period 1993-2019, this study provides updated estimates of the association between legalization and adolescent marijuana use. … Consistent with estimates from prior studies, there was little evidence that RMLs [recreational marijuana laws] or MMLs [medical marijuana laws] encourage youth marijuana use.”
- “Consistent with the results of previous researchers, there was no evidence that the legalization of medical marijuana encourages marijuana use among youth. Moreover, the estimates reported showed that marijuana use among youth may actually decline after legalization for recreational purposes.”