Teen Cannabis Consumption Is At The Lowest Since Legislation In The US

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Teen Cannabis Use Declines Despite Wave of Legalization

New data from the annual Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey reveals a surprising trend: teen cannabis use in the United States is at its lowest point in years, even as the wave of cannabis legalization continues to spread across the country.

Unexpected Findings:

The MTF survey, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), shows a notable decline in cannabis use among 8th, 10th, and 12th graders across all metrics—lifetime use, past-year use, and past-month use. This decline is especially striking given the common assumption that the expansion of legal cannabis access would lead to higher rates of use among adolescents.

Potential Contributing Factors:

While researchers are still exploring the exact reasons behind this decline, several factors may be playing a role:

• Shifting Perceptions: The survey indicates that teens are increasingly viewing cannabis use as risky, which could be discouraging them from trying it.

• Reduced Accessibility: Despite the proliferation of adult-use cannabis dispensaries, teens may still find it difficult to access cannabis, suggesting that legal markets may not be as open to underage users as some might have expected.

• Lingering Effects of COVID-19: The pandemic has had a lasting impact on social behaviors, and the continued effects on teen socializing and recreational habits may still be influencing patterns of substance use.

Challenging Conventional Assumptions:

These findings directly challenge the widespread belief that cannabis legalization inevitably leads to an increase in teen use. Experts such as Paul Armentano from NORML argue that the data demonstrates that responsible cannabis regulation can be implemented without negatively impacting young people.

Supporting Research:

The MTF survey results align with other research showing no significant increase in adolescent cannabis use following legalization. Studies from Europe, in particular, have found no evidence linking cannabis legalization to higher use rates among young adults.

Conclusion:

The decline in teen cannabis use reported by the MTF survey is a significant and encouraging development with important implications for public health policy. These findings suggest that with proper regulation, cannabis legalization may not carry the risks to youth that many initially feared.