teen marijuana use Archives

Government-Funded Survey Finds Little Change in Teen Cannabis Use Despite States Legalizing

December 13, 2016December 13, 2016

The results of the Monitoring the Future Survey invalidate claims by prohibitionists that liberalizing cannabis laws will increase teen usage. The survey was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse

According to the survey:

• Among 8th-graders, the rate of past-year cannabis use dropped significantly from 11.8% in 2015 to 9.4% in 2016; its lowest level since 1993. Past-month cannabis use also dropped significantly; from 6.5% in 2015 to 5.4% in 2016, and daily use dropped from 1.1% in 2015 to 0.7% in 2016.

• Among 10th- and 12th-graders, rates of past-year, past-month, and daily cannabis use remained relatively stable compared to last year.

CDC: State Laws Legalizing Marijuana Use Associated With Declining Teen Use

June 14, 2016

By Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director

The passage of statewide laws regulating the consumption of cannabis by adults and/or qualified patients is not associated with increased rates of teen marijuana use, according to a statistical analysis of results from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey.

CDC data reports that the percentage of high-schoolers ever reporting having used cannabis fell from an estimated 43 percent in 1995 to just under 39 percent in 2015. The percentage of teens currently using cannabis (defined as having used marijuana at least once in the past 30 days) also declined during this same period, from 25 percent in 1995 to just under 22 percent in 2015.

Study: No Link Between Chronic Cannabis Use in Teens and Physical/Mental Health Issues

August 5, 2015August 4, 2015

A 20-year study with over 400 participants has found that cannabis use among teens, even chronic long-term use, is not associated with physical and mental health problems later in life.

“What we found was a little surprising,” says lead researcher Jordan Bechtold, a psychology research fellow at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. “There were no differences in any of the mental or physical health outcomes that we measured regardless of the amount of frequency of marijuana used during adolescence.”

Study: Teen Cannabis Use Declines Despite States Continuing to Legalize

December 16, 2014

The 2014 Monitoring the Future study, conducted by the University of Michigan and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, was released Tuesday morning. The annual survey of 40,000 8th-graders, 10th-graders and 12th-graders found that, despite increasing efforts to legalize the substance, teen cannabis use is on the decline.

According to the study, teens reporting lifetime use of cannabis dropped in 2014 by 1.4 percent, teens reporting monthly use of cannabis dropped by 1.2 percent, and teens reporting daily cannabis use dropped by .7%. Overall, the survey found that roughly 30% of teens have used cannabis in their lifetimes, with about 14% saying they’ve consumed cannabis in the previous month.