Cannabis Legalization and Adolescent Cannabis Use: Explanation of Paradoxical Findings

Smyth and Cannon discuss the link between cannabis legalization and adolescent cannabis use in the US. Cannabis legalization has been a controversial topic for the past decade. Colorado was the first state in the US to legalize cannabis for recreational use in 2012. Canada opted to legalize adult use in 2018. In spite of pleas opposing legalization from a number of State Medical Societies, four additional states chose legalization in the November 2020 US. elections to join the dozen states which have already commercialized adult use. In contrast, the people of New Zealand via referendum and the legislature in Germany chose to reject legalization in 2020.