Teen weed smoking goes up where it’s legal, study shows

Lisa Stolzenberg, a criminal justice professor at FIU, keeps a keen eye on the intended and unintended effects of new laws and policies.

Her latest research examines the recreational use of pot among teenagers after a medical marijuana law was passed in their state.

The study published in a recent issue of International Journal of Drug Policy. It suggests recreational marijuana use increases with juveniles between ages 12 to 17 in states that have legalized medical marijuana.
Stolezenberg speculates the law probably helped reduce the stigma associated with marijuana use.

“Juveniles probably have more access to marijuana in states where doctors are prescribing it to their parents,” said Stolzenberg.
Because marijuana is used to treat pain, nausea, vomiting and other medical conditions, “marijuana now has a medical or positive purpose.”

The research team at FIU included Professor Stewart D’Alessio and Adjunct Professor Dustin Dariano.

Their study analyzed 50 U.S. states over a 10 year span.

The most recent year of the study, 2010-2011, calculated a nearly three percent difference between high school students who reported using pot in states that had legalized medical marijuana, compared to students in states that outlaw it.

In that same year, nearly 10 percent of high school students report using pot in a state that had legalized marijuana, and 6.8 percent of students report using pot in states that criminalize it, the study suggests.

Stolezenberg said she was surprised by the results.

“We did not expect to find an increase in recreational use of marijuana among juveniles because the law is aimed at medical use,” said Stolzenberg.

Stolzenberg said her data uses a nationally representative sample from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which is administered in all 50 states.

During the 10-year period that Stolzenberg analyzed, only sixteen states allowed marijuana use.

Today, 19 states allow medical marijuana, not including Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska and the District of Columbia which permit recreational use.

Last year Florida was two percent short of votes from permitting medical marijuana.

The ballot initiative needed a 60 percent vote to pass as a constitutional amendment. Supporters say the ballot will return in 2016.

The criminal justice professor acknowledges in her report that other studies have found different results, but she said some others have used smaller pool of data.

United for Care pro-legalization’s website asserts there are studies that prove marijuana usage has not increased in states that have legalized medicinal marijuana.

Despite the results of Stolzenberg’s study, she said she is in favor of legalized marijuana for recreational and medical use.

“I do not believe that cancer patients should be denied access to a drug that could help them. Likewise, I also believe that adults should have the freedom to use marijuana,” said Stolzenberg.

She said the results do not intend to suggest that an increase in marijuana use is harmful or that it outweighs the benefits to cancer patients and the state economy.

Instead, she said it is up to parents and the school system to educate youth on the potential hazards associated with the use of drugs.

Stolzenberg has taught at FIU since 1996. She is the chair of the department of criminal justice at FIU and received her master’s and phD in criminology at Florida State University.