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Title: Despite Legalization, Adolescent Marijuana Use Hits 15-Year Low
Source:
Reason
URL Source: https://reason.com/blog/2017/09/07/ ... galization-adolescent-marijuan
Published: Sep 7, 2017
Author: Jacob Sullum
Post Date: 2017-09-08 05:38:12 by Deckard
Keywords: None
Views: 1096
Comments: 6
NSDUH In the 2016 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 6.5 percent of 12-to-17-year-olds reported using marijuana during the previous month, down from 8.2 percent in 2002. That 21-percent decline occurred during a period when 20 states and the District of Columbia legalized marijuana for medical use and eight states legalized it for recreational use. Adolescent cannabis consumption is even down since 2014, when state-licensed marijuana shops began serving recreational customers in Colorado and Washington. So far Attorney General Jeff Sessions' fear that legalization would make cannabis more appealing to teenagers has not been borne out. By contrast, past-month marijuana use has been rising more or less steadily among 18-to-25-year-olds since 2006 and among adults 26 or older since 2011. Last year about 21 percent of the younger group and 7 percent of the older group reported past-month use. There is some evidence that marijuana is substituting for alcohol, since past-month drinking is down 8 percent among 18-to-25-year-olds since 2006 and 3 percent among Americans 26 or older since 2014. "Critics of legalization worry about the message being sent to youth by marijuana policy reform efforts, but the real message is that marijuana should only be used by responsible adults, and it seems to be sinking in," says Morgan Fox, senior communications manager at the Marijuana Policy Project. "Regulating marijuana for adults reinforces that message and creates effective mechanisms for making it more difficult for teens to obtain marijuana. Marijuana is objectively less harmful than alcohol, and regulation gives adults the legal option to choose the safer substance." Jacob Sullum is a senior editor at Reason magazine and a nationally syndicated columnist. Past-month cannabis consumption by 12-to-17-year-olds is down by more than 20 percent since 2002.
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#1. To: Deckard (#0)
I think that parents of teens across the country may be more vigilant about lecturing the teens about using pot, thinking that legalization will make it as easy for them to get pot as alcohol. And the parents would be right to think so. There are also the studies from the past few years that pot is much more harmful to teens than alcohol because it affects an immature brain more, neurologically speaking. Parents would perceive the threat as higher now that you have states legalizing pot from coast to coast. For the most part, pot only has to cross 2 or 3 state lines to get from any pot state to any non-pot state in the country. I think the edibles from dispensaries in the form of candy, brownies, etc. will contribute to the parents' sense of unease. They have more to worry about that toking from bags of pot because there are more ways to disguise marijuana than there were before.
The legalization laws don't apply to that age group. So those laws have zero effect. By contrast, past-month marijuana use has been rising more or less steadily among 18-to-25-year-olds since 2006 and among adults 26 or older since 2011." There you go.
That is not true.
Meanwhile in reality land... "AKRON, Ohio — Drug overdose deaths in 2016 most likely exceeded 59,000, the largest annual jump ever recorded in the United States, "
That is not true. Bullshit.
#2. To: Deckard (#0)
In the 2016 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 6.5 percent of 12-to-17-year-olds reported using marijuana during the previous month, down from 8.2 percent in 2002.
#3. To: Deckard (#0)
Marijuana is objectively less harmful than alcohol
#4. To: Deckard (#0)
(Edited)
#5. To: Deckard (#0)
#6. To: Vicomte13 (#3)
Marijuana is objectively less harmful than alcohol
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
Those who most loudly denounce Fake News are typically those most aggressively disseminating it.
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