A recent study shows that youth marijuana use in Rhode Island has declined by a significant amount in 2022, compared to just two years ago, even though legalization was implemented and COVID social isolation restrictions lifted.
The Rhode Island Student Survey, conducted by the Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals in the state (BHDDH), asked over 20,000 high schoolers from 23 districts to provide information on substance abuse trends and social issues.
In recent years, teen cannabis consumption has dropped in several national surveys. This is despite the fact that more states have legalized marijuana. The trend has been evident for the past decade. However, experts say that the rapid declines in 2020 and 2021 can be attributed to the social isolation caused by the coronavirus epidemic.
One might have expected to see a slight rebound in marijuana consumption last year as students returned to classroom learning. The new Rhode Island data, however, shows that the use of marijuana, alcohol and electronic cigarettes among high school students has decreased “statistically significantly”.
According to the survey conducted by BHDDH every other year with the Department of Health, and Department of Education, the past 30-day marijuana use was 15 percent in 2018. This will be 17.2 percent in 2019. About “15 percent of the students had used marijuana before age 16 compared to 20% in 2020.”
BHDDH is a BHDDH-affiliated company.
The lifetime use of tobacco among high school students also declined from 28 to 23 percent between 2020 and last year.
Students say that even though Rhode Island will legalize marijuana in 2022 — with possession for adults becoming lawful in May and first retailers opening up in December — it is more difficult to get marijuana.
The state’s recreational retailers won’t be available until December 2022, months after the youth survey concluded in June. However, Rhode Island has an established medical cannabis program that includes licensed dispensaries. It also borders states like Connecticut and Massachusetts which have legalized adult use.
In 2018, 67 per cent of students stated that it would be “easy for them to get” cannabis. In 2020, this number dropped by ten points to 57 per cent. It fell to 52 percent last year, a further drop due to reforms.
Via BHDDH.
The report shows that the decline in youth marijuana usage is consistent with long-term trends.
A study conducted by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published last month showed that the rates of cannabis use in high school students, both current and lifetime, have decreased amid the state-level decriminalization movement.
The data shows that high school students’ use of marijuana increased from 2009 to 2013 – before legal dispensaries opened – but has declined since then. Voters approved the first recreational legalization laws in 2012. Retail sales began in 2014.
These trends contradict one of the most common arguments used by prohibitionists against marijuana legalization. Studies and surveys, including those funded or conducted by the federal government, have repeatedly shown that legalizing marijuana for adults will not increase teen use.
The American Journal of Preventive Medicine published a study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) last year that found state-level marijuana legalization does not increase youth cannabis use.
The study showed that “youths who spent a greater portion of their adolescence in legalization were not more or less likely than adolescents who did not spend much time in legalization to have used marijuana at 15 years old.”
Another federally-funded study by researchers at Michigan State University , published in PLOS One in the summer of last year, found that cannabis retail sales could be followed in some states by an increase in cannabis onsets among older adults. However, this was not the case for those underage who are prohibited from buying cannabis products through retail outlets.
, the most recent version of a biennial survey, released last year, shows that adolescent cannabis use in Colorado has declined in 2021.
In a study from California, last year concluded that “there was 100% compliance with the ID policies to prevent underage patrons purchasing marijuana directly from licensed retailers.”
Last year, the Coalition for Cannabis Policy, Education, and Regulation, a marijuana policy group backed by the alcohol and tobacco industries, released a document analyzing data about youth marijuana use rates in light of state-level legalization.
In October , another federally-funded study was released. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health. (NSDUH) showed that youth marijuana usage dropped in 2020 due to the coronavirus epidemic and more states enacting legalization.
A 2021 analysis by the Journal of the American Medical Association found that legalization had a statistically indistinguishable impact on the cannabis consumption of adolescents.
The U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics analyzed youth surveys of students in high school from 2009 to 2019. It concluded that “no measurable differences” were found in the percentage of 9-12 grade students who said they had consumed cannabis at least one time in the last 30 days.
A CDC survey conducted in 2009-2019 found that there was no change in the current rate of cannabis use by high school students. However, when analyzed with a quadratic model of change, lifetime marijuana consumption declined during that time period.
Colorado officials released a study in 2020 that showed youth consumption of cannabis in the state has “not significantly changed” since 2012 when it was legalized, but methods of consumption have been diversified.
Photo by WeedPornDaily.
The post Youth Marijuana Usage Declines In 2022 Despite Legalization and COVID Restriction Lifting, Rhode Island Survey Results appeared on Marijuana Moment.
