Editing Openai/6944ad45-6508-8010-b958-987d179a19de (section)

=== Assistant: Here’s what the research and public health data say about youth adolescent marijuana use after states legalized adult r… ===
Here’s what the research and public health data say about youth (adolescent) marijuana use ''after'' states legalized adult recreational cannabis in the U.S. — with a focus on actual trends and what multiple studies report rather than advocacy claims:

==== 🧠 Key National Trends (After Legalization Began) ====

===== 1. No Clear Increase in Teen Use; Many Measures Show Declines =====
'' U.S. national surveys — including the Monitoring the Future (MTF) and CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey — show that marijuana use among teens has ''declined* or remained stable nationally, even as more states legalized adult recreational use from 2012 onward. Past-month use among 8th, 10th, and 12th graders has dropped significantly over the past decade. MPP<ref>{{cite web|title=MPP|url=https://www.mpp.org/news/press/new-data-shows-adult-use-cannabis-legalization-corresponds-with-drops-in-teen-use/|publisher=mpp.org|access-date=2025-12-20}}</ref>
* Measured declines nationally include: - 8th graders: ~7.2% → ~4.3% (past-30-day use) - 10th graders: ~17.6% → ~9.5% - 12th graders: ~22.6% → ~16.2% These figures span roughly 2011 to 2024 — a period covering much of the legalization rollout. MPP<ref>{{cite web|title=MPP|url=https://www.mpp.org/issues/legalization/adult-use-legalization-corresponds-with-drop-in-teen-marijuana-use/|publisher=mpp.org|access-date=2025-12-20}}</ref>
* Self-reported ease of access for marijuana among teens has also dropped over that period, suggesting less perceived availability. MPP<ref>{{cite web|title=MPP|url=https://www.mpp.org/issues/legalization/adult-use-legalization-corresponds-with-drop-in-teen-marijuana-use/|publisher=mpp.org|access-date=2025-12-20}}</ref>

What this suggests: On national datasets, legalization has not corresponded with overall increases in adolescent marijuana use — and in many cases, use has declined. MPP<ref>{{cite web|title=MPP|url=https://www.mpp.org/news/press/new-data-shows-adult-use-cannabis-legalization-corresponds-with-drops-in-teen-use/|publisher=mpp.org|access-date=2025-12-20}}</ref>

==== 📍 State-Level Patterns in Legalized States ====

===== 2. Long-established Legalization States Often Show Post-Legalization Drops =====
* In states that legalized earlier like Colorado and Washington, youth marijuana use rates have fallen significantly since before legalization. For example: - Colorado high schoolers’ past-month marijuana use dropped from ~22% (pre-legalization) to ~12.8% by 2023. - Washington State surveys show similar declines across 8th, 10th, and 12th grades. MPP<ref>{{cite web|title=MPP|url=https://www.mpp.org/news/press/new-data-shows-adult-use-cannabis-legalization-corresponds-with-drops-in-teen-use/|publisher=mpp.org|access-date=2025-12-20}}</ref>

These patterns don’t prove causation, but they challenge the idea that legalization automatically drives up teen use.

==== 📊 Scientific Research on Legalization’s Effect on Adolescents ====

===== 3. Peer-Reviewed Studies Show Mixed but Mostly Neutral to Negative (Decline) Effects =====
* A systematic review of research found mixed findings overall: - Some studies report no significant change in youth use after legalization - Some show decreases - A smaller number show increases in certain subgroups or time periods This means the overall evidence is not uniform or unequivocal. PubMed<ref>{{cite web|title=PubMed|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35508822/|publisher=pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov|access-date=2025-12-20}}</ref>
* A JAMA Pediatrics difference-in-difference analysis found small changes in youth use in Washington post-legalization (slightly higher in some grades) but no significant difference in Colorado — highlighting that effects can vary by state and context. JAMA Network<ref>{{cite web|title=JAMA Network|url=https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2593707|publisher=JAMA Network|access-date=2025-12-20}}</ref>

==== 📉 Large National Surveys Support Stable or Declining Youth Use ====

===== 4. Monitoring the Future & Other Longitudinal Surveys =====
* Annual national Monitoring the Future surveys (ongoing since the 1970s) have consistently shown that teen marijuana use did not spike following legalization of adult markets and in recent years even reached record low abstinence levels in the broader trend, especially entering the 2020s. Associated Press<ref>{{cite web|title=Associated Press|url=https://apnews.com/article/7dbe4c1e6d0184137b7edd99e5ef54d3|publisher=Associated Press|access-date=2025-12-20}}</ref>
* Historical analyses (pre-2020 data) also reported that adolescent marijuana use overall did not increase significantly in the years following legalization in Colorado and Washington. NORML<ref>{{cite web|title=NORML|url=https://norml.org/news/2020/12/17/monitoring-the-future-study-no-increase-in-youth-marijuana-use-following-statewide-legalization/|publisher=norml.org|date=2020-12-17|access-date=2025-12-20}}</ref>

National trends thus do not support a clear increase in widespread adolescent cannabis use attributable to legalization.

==== 🧩 Important Nuances ====

===== 5. Trends Depend on Age, Grade, and Location =====
* Trends aren’t identical in every state; some localized analyses find small increases in select subgroups or periods, while others report declines. PubMed<ref>{{cite web|title=PubMed|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35508822/|publisher=pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov|access-date=2025-12-20}}</ref>
* Perceptions of risk and accessibility can change with legalization, but this hasn’t translated into broad increases in usage in major national datasets.

===== 6. Other Influences on Youth Use =====
* Broader societal influences — such as pandemic social shifts, reduced in-person interaction among teens, and changes in other substance use behaviors — intersect with policy effects. The Guardian<ref>{{cite web|title=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jan/05/teen-drug-alcohol-use-decline|publisher=The Guardian|access-date=2025-12-20}}</ref>
* Some critics point to localized reports of rising cannabis-related incidents among youth in specific states (e.g., New York), though such reports often use smaller datasets and are debated in interpretation. New York Post<ref>{{cite web|title=New York Post|url=https://nypost.com/2025/11/15/us-news/cannabis-poisoning-among-teens-skyrockets-since-ny-legalization/|publisher=New York Post|date=2025-11-15|access-date=2025-12-20}}</ref>

==== 📌 Summary: What the Data Say ====
'' Nationally and in many legalized states, youth marijuana use has ''not increased* after adult legalization and often has declined. MPP<ref>{{cite web|title=MPP|url=https://www.mpp.org/news/press/new-data-shows-adult-use-cannabis-legalization-corresponds-with-drops-in-teen-use/|publisher=mpp.org|access-date=2025-12-20}}</ref>
* Longitudinal research findings are mixed but generally do not show large increases directly attributable to legalization. PubMed<ref>{{cite web|title=PubMed|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35508822/|publisher=pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov|access-date=2025-12-20}}</ref>
* State-specific results vary, and localized increases in specific metrics should be interpreted carefully in context with larger trend data.

If you’d like, I can provide specific graphs or year-by-year tables from Monitoring the Future or state-by-state comparisons before and after legalization to visualize these trends more clearly.