A new study shows that use of the medical marijuana among teenagers has not increased, even though medical marijuana and new regulation has allowed public access to marijuana.
The data presented by the study is quite surprising to most since the drug use and the alcohol use seem to be the kind of thing that young people are inclined to abuse.
It is the increased availability of the drug on the streets which might have caused the young generation to lose interest.
The numbers are down, and it doesn’t matter the reason, or rather it is nor increasing and that is probably just as good.
Deborah Hasin of Columbia University Medical Center, and the author of the study said, “Our findings provide the strongest evidence to date that marijuana use by teenagers does not increase after a state legalizes medical marijuana.”
For the study, researchers have examined a million teenagers aged 13 to 18 across 48 states between the years 1991 and 2014. And to the surprising they found that in the 21 states that have passed the medical marijuana legislation before 2014 did not see any significant difference before the laws went into effect compares with after the laws went into effect.
The study showed that, it appears teens are not pursuing abuse of the drug, and the experts continue to warn that the availability of marijuana might improve drug rates overall. After all, marijuana is usually the first drug that most people try before moving on to harder stuff. It is generally called a gateway drug for a reason.
Similarly, experts warn that while medical marijuana can have some benefits for those who need it, the availability will still make people vulnerable to abuse down the road.
The findings of the study are published in the journal The Lancer Psychiatry on Monday.