Medical Marijuana No Influence on Teen Use

By Todd Zwillich
Source: United Press International

Washington, D.C. -- Teens in the handful of states allowing medical marijuana are no more likely to use the drug than those in other states, according to a study released Tuesday. The study shows widespread reductions in marijuana use have occurred generally at the same rate among all the states, including those allowing medical use.

The study was funded and released by the Marijuana Policy Project, a group backing medical-marijuana efforts nationwide. The group said its findings belie Bush administration claims that medical-marijuana laws send youth a mixed message that helps to encourage drug use.

Ten states currently allow patients with certain medical conditions to use marijuana under the supervision of a physician.

Overall, the United States has seen a decrease in marijuana's popularity among teenagers since 2000, after a prolonged increase in use during the 1990s. For example, compared with 1996, about 43 percent fewer 8th graders and 9 percent fewer 12th graders reported they had used the drug in the past 30 days in 2003.

California became the first state to permit medical-marijuana use in 1996.

At the same time, past-month use dropped by half among the state's 9th graders and by one-quarter among 11th graders, according to the report, which analyzed federal and state statistics. Approximately one-fifth of California's high school juniors now acknowledge using marijuana within the last month.

Other states with medical-marijuana laws also saw varying reductions in youth marijuana use. Past-month use by 12th graders in Washington state was down 32 percent since a medical-marijuana law was enacted in 1998, though rates dropped only 12 percent among Maine's high school seniors since a similar law was passed there in 1999.

Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada and Oregon also allow some medical marijuana, and all showed some reductions in youth use since the laws were passed. Montana and Vermont have enacted similar laws, but they did so too recently to detect any trends, the researchers said.

Several other states are considering measures allowing the use of marijuana by patients, backed by some evidence the drug can ease a variety of health problems, including pain, nausea and weight loss caused by cancer, as well as AIDS and glaucoma.

Bush administration drug officials have consistently fought the laws, stressing that such measures undermine efforts to persuade youth that marijuana is a dangerous drug.

"Contrary to the fears expressed by opponents of medical-marijuana laws, there is no evidence that the enactment of 10 state medical-marijuana laws has produced an increase in adolescent marijuana use in those states or nationwide," the MPP study concluded. "Opponents of medical marijuana laws should cease making such unsubstantiated claims."

Mitch Earleywine, one of the study's investigators, told United Press International the results show medical-marijuana laws have not stopped or slowed progress against illegal drug use in the eight states studied.

"Use is clearly decreasing regardless of medical marijuana laws," said Earleywine, an associate professor of psychology at the State University of New York at Albany.

Tom Riley, a spokesman for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said in a statement that youth drug use has fallen largely because of increased perception among teens that drugs are dangerous.

"Misleading messages that harmful substances are somehow 'good for them' send teens exactly the wrong message," Riley said. His statement did not directly address the study's state-by-state findings.

Earlier this year the U.S. Supreme Court ruled federal anti-drug agencies have the right to enforce nationwide bans on marijuana, even in states that allow medical use. The ruling was seen as a victory for the Bush administration, but it did not prevent states from enacting new medical-marijuana measures.

Todd Zwillich covers healthcare matters for UPI.

Source: United Press International (Wire)
Author: Todd Zwillich
Published: September 6, 2005
Copyright 2005 United Press International
Website: http://www.upi.com/
Contact: nationaldesk@upi.com
Link to article: http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread21089.shtml

 

By Eric Bailey, Times Staff Writer
Source: Los Angeles Times

\t\tSacramento -- Bucking dire predictions by anti-drug warriors, the 10 \t\tstates that approved medical marijuana laws over the last decade have \t\texperienced sharp declines in cannabis use among teenagers, according to \t\ta new study by a marijuana advocacy group.
\t\t
\t\tCalifornia has seen usage among ninth-graders drop 47% since 1996, the \t\tyear the state became the nation's first to legalize medical marijuana. \t\tOver the same period, the nation as a whole experienced a 43% decline \t\tamong eighth-graders.
\t\t
\t\tThe study, released today, is based on data from national and state \t\tsurveys, which show a drop in marijuana use by teens.
\t\t
\t\tAlthough debate over medical marijuana is often shaded by concerns about \t\tincreasing drug abuse among young people, the report suggested the \t\topposite has been true.
\t\t
\t\tThe study's authors were Mitch Earleywine, a State University of New \t\tYork psychology professor, and Karen O'Keefe, a legislative analyst with \t\tMarijuana Policy Project, the organization that commissioned the \t\tresearch based on state and federal data.
\t\t
\t\tThat data "strongly suggests" that approval of medical marijuana has not \t\tincreased recreational use of cannabis among adolescents, Earleywine and \t\tO'Keefe concluded. And the decline in many of the states with medical \t\tmarijuana laws is "slightly more favorable" than trends nationwide, they \t\tsaid.
\t\t
\t\tCalifornia, Washington and Colorado have all experienced greater drops \t\tin marijuana usage than have occurred nationwide. Only three states with \t\tmedical marijuana laws - Maine, Oregon and Nevada - have lagged behind \t\tthe national drop in teen marijuana use, the report said.
\t\t
\t\t"If medical marijuana laws send the wrong message to children," the \t\tauthors said, widespread attention to the debate "would be expected to \t\tproduce a nationwide increase in marijuana use, the largest increase in \t\tthose states enacting medical marijuana laws. But just the opposite has \t\toccurred."
\t\t
\t\tTom Riley, of the president's Office of National Drug Control Policy, \t\tsaid the drop in teen drug use across the nation is attributable to the \t\tfederal anti-drug advertising campaign in recent years, including $125 \t\tmillion spent during the federal fiscal year that ends Oct. 1.
\t\t
\t\tMedical marijuana has only clouded that pitch, he said.
\t\t
\t\t"It's foolish to give kids a message that marijuana can be helpful to \t\tthem," Riley said, adding that all Americans "should be glad that teen \t\tdrug use is going down. If the drug legalizers are recognizing that, \t\ttoo, I think that says something."
\t\t
\t\tBut the researchers sketched a different hypothesis: that medical \t\tmarijuana shifted the perception among some teens about pot.
\t\t
\t\t"Perhaps medical marijuana laws send a very different message," they \t\twrote. Teens may increasingly consider pot "a treatment for serious \t\tillness, not a toy, and requires cautious and careful handling."
\t\t
\t\tThe most extensive available data was in California, where a survey of \t\tabout 6,000 students every two years showed that pot use among teens was \t\tclimbing before passage of the 1996 medical marijuana law. For all \t\tgrades, marijuana use dropped significantly between early 1996 and 2004, \t\twith the biggest downward shift among ninth-graders.
\t\t
\t\tBetween 1996 and 2004, the number of high school freshmen in the state \t\twho reported using pot in the last 30 days dropped 47%, while the number \t\tof freshmen who had tried cannabis at least once dropped 35%.
\t\t
\t\tNote: Study shows a sharp decline in teens smoking marijuana in states, \t\tincluding California, where the drug is legal for medicinal purposes.

Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Author: Eric Bailey, Times Staff Writer
Published: September 7, 2005
Copyright: 2005 Los Angeles Times
Contact: letters@latimes.com
Website: http://www.latimes.com/
Link to article: http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/medok.htm

 

By Seth Freedland, The Daily Journal
Source: Ukiah Daily Journal

California -- Countering ominous predictions by anti-drug advocates, the 10 states that passed medical marijuana laws over the last decade have seen sharp declines in pot use among teenagers, according to a new survey by a marijuana advocacy organization. In California, usage among ninth-graders has plummeted 47 percent since 1996, the year the state became the first to legalize medical marijuana. The study, released by the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C. this week, is based on data from national and state studies, which show a general drop in marijuana use by teens.

Although debate around medical marijuana is frequently colored by worries over increasing drug abuse by youth, the report found the opposite to be true.

Legal approval of medical cannabis has not increased recreational use of marijuana among teens, the organization concluded. More notably, especially for Ukiah residents, the decline in many of the states with medical marijuana laws is "slightly more favorable" than nationwide trends, it reported.

California, Colorado and Washington have all experienced significantly greater drops in marijuana usage than the national rate. Only three states with medical marijuana laws have lagged behind the nationwide drop in adolescent marijuana use, the report said.

"If medical marijuana laws send the wrong message to children," the study said, profound attention to the debate "would be expected to produce a nationwide increase in marijuana use, the largest increase in those states enacting medical marijuana laws. But just the opposite has occurred."

The most extensive available data came from California, where a survey of about 6,000 teens every two years depicted climbing pot use before passage of the 1996 medical cannabis law. Across all grades, marijuana use plunged between 1996 and 2004, when the number of high school freshmen in California who reported using pot in the last 30 days dropped 47 percent. During the same period, the number of freshmen who sampled cannabis dropped 35 percent.

Jane Warner, executive director for California's chapter of Partnership for A Drug-Free America, disagreed with the study's findings, saying: "There is no basis for tying the two issues together. Pot use is down because of what the Partnership has done along with the other anti-drug organizations. It has nothing to do with the medical issue or use."

But the Marijuana Policy Project study suggests that medical marijuana may have recalibrated youth viewpoint on pot.

"Perhaps medical marijuana laws send a very different message," the group said. Teens may increasingly consider pot "a treatment for serious illness, not a toy, and requires cautious and careful handling."

Bruce Mirken, MPP's director of communications, admitted the fault in seeking out strong correlations between teen pot use and medical marijuana ordinances like Ukiah's using the available data.

"I just don't think there's a huge effect one way or the other," Mirken said. "(The study suggests) it has a counter-effect, but I don't think either is huge. As adults, we tend to project our own fears on what young people will do, but after all these laws and all this time the sky has not fallen."

Mirken said he hoped anti-medical marijuana zealots who label proponents of these measures "potheads" -- as one woman loudly did during a pivotal Ukiah City Council meeting -- would be able to use the information to "take a deep breath and consider (medical marijuana laws) on their merits."

Complete Title: Marijuana Study Finds Teen Use in Medical Marijuana States is Down

Source: Ukiah Daily Journal (CA)
Author: Seth Freedland, The Daily Journal
Published: Saturday, September 10, 2005
Copyright: 2005 Ukiah Daily Journal
Contact: udj@pacific.net
Website: http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/
Link to article: http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread21102.shtml