Study: Adult-Use Legalization Doesn’t Influence Children’s Attitudes Toward Cannabis

BOSTON– According to studies reported in the journal Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research, the adoption of state-level laws legalizing cannabis for adults had little impact on early adolescents’ opinions toward its possible hazards.

Over a three-year period in states with and without legal cannabis markets, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School evaluated children’s perceptions of cannabis-related hazards.

Young people’s attitudes regarding cannabis are mostly influenced by “specific child-level features, rather than state policy,” according to their findings.

The perceived danger of cannabis use was not significantly impacted by state RCLs (recreational cannabis laws), and there were no changes in how state RCLs changed over time, according to researchers.

“This analysis implies that state-level RCLs are not associated with differential perception of cannabis risk among youngsters,” the researchers wrote in their conclusion.The study’s findings, which are in line with those of many others, show that restrictions on cannabis use for adults do not lead to an increase in young people’s access to or usage of the drug.

Full text of the study, “State-level recreational cannabis legalization is not differentially associated with cannabis risk perception among children: A multilevel regression analysis,” appears in Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research. Additional information is available from the NORML Fact Sheet, ‘Marijuana Regulation and Teen Use Rates.’