A study by the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and The City University of New York found that rates of cannabis use and daily cannabis use have increased across the US, and current cannabis use and daily use of those living in the States significantly higher among individuals. Relative to those where cannabis use remains illegal, recreational cannabis use has been legalized. The study also found that rates of cannabis use are even higher among Americans 12 and older who smoke cigarettes, and who live in states with recreational cannabis laws, compared to states where cannabis is illegal in 2017. was.
“Based on more than a decade of data, cannabis use was more prevalent in states where recreational use is legal for adults, relative to states where it was not in 2017. Still, cannabis use during this time period was not the case. The increase in use was just as fast, or faster, in states where cannabis use is prohibited by law, relative to states that legalized recreational use as of 2017,” said Renee Goodwin, PhD, of the Columbia Mailman School of Epidemiology. assistant professor of medicine and professor of epidemiology at CUNY, and lead said. author. “It remains to be seen how the legalized use and increasing use of cannabis among adults in all states – almost regardless of legal status – will affect the adolescent population. Recent trends, however, suggest a potential explosion in both age and outline the use of young age,” she said.
The researchers used data from the 2004–2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a representative survey of American individuals 12 years of age and older. Residence status was used to determine state-level medical and recreational cannabis laws. The total sample was 784,293 respondents and for 2017 was 56,276 respondents.
The study found that cannabis use and daily cannabis use in the US increased with little difference in the pace of increase in the state-level legal status of cannabis use from 2004 to 2017. Cannabis use and daily cannabis use were much more common in recreational legal states. Cannabis use, relative to those with legal medical cannabis and those without legal cannabis use.
Cannabis use was also higher among Americans who smoke cigarettes in states that adopted recreational cannabis laws where cannabis use was not legal. In 2017, one in three (33 percent) daily cigarette smokers reported cannabis use in recreational legal states in the past month and nearly one in five (18 percent) reported daily cannabis use. In contrast, among nonsmokers, one in ten reported any cannabis use in recreational legal states and 3 percent of non-cigarette smokers in these states reported daily use.
The study found that of teens aged 12-17 who smoked cigarettes daily, the majority (73 percent) had used cannabis in the past month and nearly one in three (30 percent) used cannabis daily. was. Among teens who didn’t smoke cigarettes, 5 percent had used cannabis in the past month and one percent used cannabis daily.
The study is published online in the journal drug and alcohol dependence,
Goodwin said, “U.S. states are increasingly passing laws, yet what public education should be needed on how cannabis can be used safely. For example, retail licenses are being issued And it is expected that recreational retail outlets will open this year in New York State, yet New York has established evidence-based measures to outline safe cannabis use practices or to inform the public about the potential health risks associated with different levels of cannabis. Guidance has not been provided.”
Co-authors are Katarzyna Vyka, City University of New York and Andrea Weinberger, Yeshiva University.
The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Drug Abuse (grant number R01-DA20892).
