Pubdate: Tue, 16 Jun 2015
Source: Honolulu Star-Advertiser (HI)
Copyright: 2015 Associated Press
Contact: 
http://www.staradvertiser.com/info/Star-Advertiser_Letter_to_the_Editor.html
Website: http://www.staradvertiser.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5154

TEENS' USE UNALTERED BY LEGAL MEDICAL POT

NEW YORK (AP) - Medical marijuana laws don't trigger an increase in 
teen pot smoking, a new study concludes.

Some opponents of medical marijuana have said that legalizing the 
medicinal use of marijuana could send a message to young people that 
smoking pot is no big deal, ultimately encouraging them to experiment 
with marijuana and harder drugs. Pot smoking by teens has been 
increasing, but the new study suggests that medical marijuana laws 
are not the reason.

The research showed no significant increase in 21 states with medical 
marijuana laws.

"Our findings provide the strongest evidence to date that marijuana 
use by teenagers does not increase after a state legalizes medical 
marijuana," lead author Deborah Hasin, a researcher at Columbia 
University in New York, said in a statement.

The study, published online Monday by the journal Lancet Psychiatry, 
is based on an ongoing government-funded survey of eighth-, 10th- and 
12th-graders that asks about marijuana use in the previous month. The 
researchers reviewed responses from more than 1 million students in 
48 states, from 1991 through 2014.

They found that marijuana use tended to already be higher in states 
that went on to adopt medical marijuana laws. But they did not see an 
additional spike after the law was passed.
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