Teen Use Drops after Legalization in Colorado

Fewer Colorado teens are using cannabis on a regular basis since the state legalized cannabis for adults. According to a statewide survey, the rates of current and lifetime use in Colorado teens is lower than the national average.

The state’s one and only comprehensive survey on health, the Healthy Kids Colorado Survey (HKCS), was released Monday by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE). Researchers interviewed around 17,000 middle and high school students from 157 randomly selected schools in Colorado.

The survey indicated that 21.2 percent of high school and middle school students in Colorado reported using cannabis within the past 30 days last year—slightly down from 22 percent in 2011. That’s marginally less than the national average, where 21.7 percent of students said they used cannabis in the last 30 days. The national study, the 2015 High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), was conducted last month by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In 2009, medical cannabis collectives began appearing across the state and teen use was reported at 24.8 percent. A few years later, Amendment 64 was passed and teen use fell to 22 percent and has seen a slow, but consistent drop ever since.

Lifetime use also dropped according to these studies with high school students reporting lifetime use at 42.6 percent in 2009. That number has dropped significantly to 38 percent in 2015. Lifetime use in Colorado was also less than the national average which was 38.6 percent.

“These statistics clearly debunk the theory that making marijuana legal for adults will result in more teen use,” Mason Tvert, Director of Communications for the Marijuana Policy Project, said in a statement. “Levels of teen use in Colorado have not increased since it ended marijuana prohibition, and they are lower than the national average. Elected officials and voters in states that are considering similar proposals should be wary of claims that it will hurt teens.”