Marijuana legalization: What effect does it have on teens?

Abstract

Last year, JAMA Pediatrics published an original investigation and two editorials on the connection between legalization of recreational marijuana use and the prevalence of adolescent marijuana use. Legalization does have an effect: it led to an increase in use and a decrease in perceived use in Washington state. In Colorado, legalization per se did not have an effect, although there was already a robust medical marijuana system in Colorado, which had likely already resulted in a decrease in perceived use and, along with that, an increase in use.