Teen Cannabis Consumption Plummets in California Following Legalization

[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]A[/dropcap]ccording to figures from the California Healthy Kids Survey, teen cannabis consumption is rapidly declining despite statewide legalization. We’ve all heard the argument that legalization sends the wrong message to kids, but the data just doesn’t add up to support that theory.

Teen students in 7th, 9th and 11th grades were surveyed on current cannabis consumption (within the last 30 days) and whether they’d ever tried cannabis.

According to the results, 4.2 percent of 7th graders reported ever trying cannabis between 2015-2017, reflecting a 47 percent drop compared to data released earlier, when 7.9 percent of seventh graders reported ever trying cannabis between 2013-2015. Additionally, 17.4 percent of 9th graders reported ever trying cannabis during 2015-2017, reflecting a 16 percent drop compared to the data collected in 2013-2015, when 37.9 percent of 9th graders consumed cannabis during 2013-2015. The number of teens who reported consuming cannabis multiple times over the last 30 days also dropped among all age groups.

“These initial reports confirm that legalizing and regulating cannabis doesn’t increase youth marijuana use, but rather it has the opposite effect,” stated Ellen Komp, deputy director of California NORML. “The fact that the biggest drop in reported use came from younger age groups is a particularly encouraging indicator of the success of regulation.”

The figures fly in the face of media efforts to warn Californians about the dangers that legalization poses on the state’s youth. “It’s time to stop trying to ‘send a message’ to young people about drugs and instead implement sound, science-based policies that best protect our children and public safety, along with our privacy and human rights,” concluded Komp.

Just this week, falsehoods about cannabis and youth continue to be spread. “Edibles are often so concentrated that they can be fatal in kids,” tweeted Dr. Merrilee Brown in a now-deleted tweet and account.

Overall, cannabis consumption has dropped since the mid-1990s and continued to decline through the 2000s and 2010s. The latest data from the California Healthy Kids Survey confirms that legalization isn’t causing a surge in teen cannabis consumption—it’s rather the opposite.