Med MJ Teen Marijuana Use Down in States With Medical Marijuana Laws

[Heretic.Ape.]

Press Release: New Report Finds Teen Marijuana Use Down in States With Medical Marijuana Laws

from Drug War Chronicle, Issue #540, 6/20/08

A newly updated analysis released June 16, coauthored by Dr. Mitch Earleywine, associate professor of psychology at the Albany campus of the State University of New York, shows that state medical marijuana laws have not increased teen marijuana use, despite fears that have been raised when such measures are considered. Teen marijuana use has consistently declined in states with medical marijuana laws, and generally more markedly than national averages.
The report, based entirely on data from federal and state government-funded drug use surveys, is available at http://www.mpp.org/teens/.
In New York, medical marijuana legislation passed the state Assembly last year, and the issue awaits Senate action.
"Opponents of medical use of marijuana regularly argue that such laws 'send the wrong message to children,' but there is just no sign of that effect in the data," said Dr. Earleywine, a substance abuse researcher and author of the acclaimed book, "Understanding Marijuana" (Oxford University Press, 2002). "In every state for which there's data, teen marijuana use has gone down since the medical marijuana law was passed, often a much larger decline than nationally."
In California, which passed the first effective medical marijuana law in 1996, marijuana use has declined sharply among all age groups. Among ninth-graders, marijuana use in the past 30 days ("current use" as defined in the surveys) declined by 47 percent from 1995-96 to 2005-06, the latest survey results available.
A similar pattern is emerging in the states with newer medical marijuana laws. Vermont and Montana, whose medical marijuana laws were enacted in 2004, have seen declines in current marijuana use of 15 percent and 9 percent, respectively. In Rhode Island, whose medical marijuana law took effect in January 2006, current use declined 7 percent from 2005 to 2007. There are no before-and-after data available yet from New Mexico, whose medical marijuana law was passed last year. Overall, declines in teen marijuana use in the 11 medical marijuana states for which data are available have slightly exceeded the national trends.
With more than 23,000 members and 180,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit http://MarijuanaPolicy.org.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Interesting, thanks.

[ihavequestions]

definetly interesting. swim swears if a person is told they arent allowed to do something, they are gonna go out and do it just out of spite. especialy during the teen years.

but now that marijuana use has gone down swim bets anything that other drug use rates are going up. probably drugs more along the lines of MDMA and the like.

[Ontherooftops]

Swim would believe this is due to the way legalization effects cost. In SoCal atleast, the medical legalization has lead to most dealers turning to medical marijuana in order to protect themselves. The cost of the medical is higher per OZ, but most are willing to pay the extra price for their safety. The higher per OZ cost leads to a higher per bag cost. This results in some users finding it much less worth it, perhaps stopping, or never starting. However, SWIM's personal observation is that most resort to cheaper, less safe drugs, such as heroin an methamphetamine. (hell, he even knows a couple who do f*ckin cheese)

[ShawnD]

Originally Posted by ihavequestions

definetly interesting. swim swears if a person is told they arent allowed to do something, they are gonna go out and do it just out of spite. especialy during the teen years.

Tru dat. I don't think this has anything to do with price since even the cheapest legal drugs don't seem abused very often. A 200mg caffeine pill will mess you up real bad, and they only cost about 10 cents each, but I have yet to see kids hang out in the school parking lot and pop caffeine pills. I'm thinking you'd more likely be called a fag for doing that. It doesn't matter if caffeine is a real drug with very profound effects, it's still not cool.

The ultimate anti-drug campaign is to make marijuana popular among old people. We'd have to get those old people hooked on coke and heroin too, but risking other people's lives is a risk I'm willing to take

[Coconut]

Originally Posted by ShawnD

A 200mg caffeine pill will mess you up real bad, and they only cost about 10 cents each, but I have yet to see kids hang out in the school parking lot and pop caffeine pills

SWIM knows someone who did before. They took quite a few of them too, if I remember correctly. Apparently it's not a pleasant experience. Yet it's legal... hm...

[curious1]

hey swim loves his caffeine pills. They make time so much FASTER which is great when he worked at a job he didnt like. He would pop 2 or 3 early in the morning(got to the office at 6) then 2 more in the afternoon. Was great even tho he had a minor case of the shakes .

Swim has noticed that if a drug is legal his friends are less willing to take them. They would say things like how its hippie crap and one literally said "if its not illegal its not good"...

[ShawnD]

Originally Posted by curious1

hey swim loves his caffeine pills. They make time so much FASTER which is great when he worked at a job he didnt like.

ugggg, bad experience. I never drink coffee at work anymore. There is nothing worse than having coffee-induced stomach pain, and it's not even noon yet. I just wanted to die for the next 4 hours.

one literally said "if its not illegal its not good"...

What's funny is that this is almost true since the drug schedules are partially based on risk of abuse. The really scary drugs like heroin are sometimes described as being better than sex; that's why it's high risk of abuse, and that's why it's high up on the DEA list. In the eyes of a junkie, the DEA list is basically a well organized list of drugs from best to worst.