Legalizing medical marijuana doesn’t push more teens to light up, new research shows. A study from Brown University compared rates of marijuana use in Massachusetts to those in Rhode Island – where medical use of the drug was legalized in 2006.
Findings suggested the legislation has no influence on teens’ drug habits.
Dr. Esther Choo, assistant professor of emergency medicine at the university’s medical school and a physician at Rhode Island Hospital, said researchers selected the liberal-leaning Northeastern spots based on their similarities.
“We wanted to pair these two states because they have so much in common culturally and geographically,” Dr. Esther Choo told Time.com.
Teenagers surveyed were no more likely to smoke marijuana in Rhode Island, post-legalization, than they were in Massachusetts. About 30 percent of kids reported using marijuana at least once in the previous month – legalization or not, Time.com reported.
Choo pointed out that it’s not young people who are likely to benefit from medical marijuana.
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