10 Recent Studies Show Adult-Use Legalization Does Not Cause Significant Upticks in Teenage Use.
Updated: Feb 15, 2022
On the road to legalization, you will come across the argument that the recreational legalization of adult-use cannabis leads to an increase in cannabis use by teens and pre-teens. The opposition will make an empathetic plight for the youth of our state. This is a false narrative meant to mislead others and emotionally manipulate them into believing that being "for cannabis" means you are "against children". While cannabis science reaches new heights, politicians and anti-cannabis organizations reach new lows.
Fortunately, there are states, like Colorado and California, that have had legal, recreational cannabis for well over two decades. In fact, if you were born after 1996 you've never lived in a version of the United States where cannabis was illegal in all 50 states.
Time has given us much data, our national office, NORML.org, has tracked and logged it.
Here are the 10 most recent studies proving no significant increase in adolescent use as of the date of this blog.
National Center for Education Statistics, Marijuana Use and Illegal Drug Availability, May 2021
Marijuana legalization and prevalence among adolescents, American Journal of Public Health, 2020
National Institutes on Drug Abuse, December 17, 2018 press release
Colorado Division of Criminal Justice, Impacts of Marijuana Legalization in Colorado, 2018