What would happen if marijuana wee legalized tomorrow?
Shayne Laidler
Barnes
What would happen if marijuana were legalized tomorrow?
As the New Year comes so do new laws, especially those that have to do with medical and recreational use of marijuana in the United States. As our social and political landscapes are rapidly changing more and more states are passing pro-medicinal marijuana legislation. Currently there are 17 states that approved of pro-marijuana ballot initiatives, but not all of them have officially approved cannabis for medical use including Arizona, Vermont, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. Marijuana remains illegal federally.
People against marijuana seem to believe that if fully legalized more and more children will start smoking marijuana but, contrary to the fears expressed by opponents of medical marijuana laws, and there is no evidence that medical marijuana laws in 16 states and the District of Columbia have produced an increase in adolescent marijuana use in those states or nationwide. Instead, data from those states suggest a modest decline nationally and in medical marijuana states overall, with large declines in some age groups in some states. Only two of 13 states with operating medical marijuana programs have experienced an overall increase in youth marijuana use since passing a medical marijuana law, and both of those states have a small amount of data because the programs are relatively new. This data trend strongly suggests that the effect of state medical marijuana laws on teen marijuana use has been either neutral or positive. California researchers, who appear to be the only ones to specifically study the issue in the context of a survey of adolescent drug use, found no evidence of a “wrong message” effect.
Since California voters enacted Prop. 215, the debate over it and more recent proposals has been covered widely on national television and radio, as well as in local and national newspapers and magazines. Early examples include USA Today’s front-page story on Prop. 215’s
Barnes
What would happen if marijuana were legalized tomorrow?
As the New Year comes so do new laws, especially those that have to do with medical and recreational use of marijuana in the United States. As our social and political landscapes are rapidly changing more and more states are passing pro-medicinal marijuana legislation. Currently there are 17 states that approved of pro-marijuana ballot initiatives, but not all of them have officially approved cannabis for medical use including Arizona, Vermont, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. Marijuana remains illegal federally.
People against marijuana seem to believe that if fully legalized more and more children will start smoking marijuana but, contrary to the fears expressed by opponents of medical marijuana laws, and there is no evidence that medical marijuana laws in 16 states and the District of Columbia have produced an increase in adolescent marijuana use in those states or nationwide. Instead, data from those states suggest a modest decline nationally and in medical marijuana states overall, with large declines in some age groups in some states. Only two of 13 states with operating medical marijuana programs have experienced an overall increase in youth marijuana use since passing a medical marijuana law, and both of those states have a small amount of data because the programs are relatively new. This data trend strongly suggests that the effect of state medical marijuana laws on teen marijuana use has been either neutral or positive. California researchers, who appear to be the only ones to specifically study the issue in the context of a survey of adolescent drug use, found no evidence of a “wrong message” effect.
Since California voters enacted Prop. 215, the debate over it and more recent proposals has been covered widely on national television and radio, as well as in local and national newspapers and magazines. Early examples include USA Today’s front-page story on Prop. 215’s