New research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has shown that teen use of cannabis is lower since the opening of legal dispensaries.
The report examined high school students and their use of a variety of drugs, including alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, heroin and more.
While cannabis use has decreased, so has the use of all substances. During the period of research the Covid-19 was prevalent, perhaps explaining part of the decrease.
However, cannabis use among teens had been trending upwards from 2009-2013. This is before legal dispensaries had opened. Since then, cannabis use has been on the decline in teenagers.
Results from the study showed that 15.8% of high school students admitted to using cannabis at least once in the past 20 days during 2021. This is down from 21.7% in 2009.
The record for most cannabis use was in 2013 resulting in 23.4%. The decrease of almost 10% is significant.
Despite many arguments from those who disapproved of cannabis being legalised for fear that teen use would increase, it appears the opposite has happened, at least for high school students.
Indeed, these results are further backed up by a National Institute on Drug Abuse study that found cannabis legalisation does not increase the use of the drug in young people.
Recreational cannabis is currently legal in 22 states and another 9 states have decriminalised its use. Despite this, cannabis remains illegal at a federal level.
Although the evidence suggests that fewer teens are using cannabis, the overall cannabis market is expected to reach $48 billion by 2027 which much of the demand coming from the U.S.
