How has legalization of recreational cannabis impacted substance use or abuse by minors?
That's a question often asked by those trying to determine if cannabis legalization is a good thing or a bad thing. This November, we were shown some evidence to support those who are pro-cannabis legalization.
A study from California published last month in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs showed that minors in that state are using alcohol and tobacco at lower rates than before cannabis legalization, and that smoked cannabis use is not up, even while use of edibles is.
"Notably, frequency of cannabis use... did not significantly differ between the pre- and post-[legalization] cohorts, except for greater use of edibles, despite potentially greater access to cannabis," the study's authors wrote.
The data from California, which looked at two cohorts of minors — one was surveyed in 2014-15, just before legalization in that state, and the other surveyed in 2019-20, post-legalization in that state — almost mirrors the data that's been gathered in Washington state.
According to data from the statewide Healthy Youth Survey, 19.3% of 10th graders in Washington reported having used cannabis in 2012, the year cannabis was legalized at the ballot box. The most recent Healthy Youth Survey, issued in 2021, nearly a decade into legalization, shows that number at 7.2%.
From 2012 to present, only one two-year period has seen an increase in cannabis use among minors according to this study. At 17.2% in the 2016 edition, the number of Washington 10th graders reporting having used cannabis increased to 17.9% in 2018. Otherwise, it has been on a downward trend since at least 2010.
Alcohol use among Washington 10th graders has also fallen from 23.3% in 2012 to 8.4% in 2021. Tobacco use has followed a similar path, from 9.5% of 10th graders in 2012 to just 1.9% in 2021 — for the record, this study does not clarify between tobacco and nicotine products, which puts vape use into something of a gray area.
All that said, what is the answer to the original question? Has cannabis use increased or decreased among minors in the wake of legalization?
This study from California and the data from Washington show one thing quite clearly: Underage use of legal drugs like cannabis, alcohol and tobacco are down in the years since cannabis legalization.
