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

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.