GAINESVILLE, FL — The legalization of marijuana for medical purposes does not lead to an increase in teen marijuana use, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainseville.
The study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, used data collected from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey for the states of Montana, Rhode Island, Michigan, and Delaware compiled over an eight year period.
“Our results suggest that, in the states assessed here, MMLs [medical marijuana laws] have not measurably affected adolescent marijuana use in the first few years after their enactment,” researchers wrote in their conclusion. ”Longer-term results, after MMLs are more fully implemented, might be different.”
The study confirms the results of a similar studies conducted in years past, while contradicting public statements made by Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske and other medical marijuana opponents, who repeatedly allege that the passage of medical marijuana laws is directly responsible for higher levels of self-reported marijuana consumption among U.S. teenagers.
A study conducted last year by researchers from Montana State University, the University of Oregon, and the University of Colorado, Denver examined the relationship between st. . . . . READ MORE