Findings based on 11 separate studies using data from four, large-scale U.S. surveys
TUESDAY, Feb. 27, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Current evidence does not show that medical marijuana laws (MMLs) enacted through 2014 have led to increases in adolescent marijuana use, according to a review published online Feb. 22 in Addiction.
Aaron L. Sarvet, from Columbia University in New York, and colleagues, conducted a systematic literature review to identify studies estimating the effect of U.S. medical marijuana laws on past-month marijuana use prevalence among adolescents.
The researchers found that none of the 11 studies included in the meta-analysis found significant estimates of pre-post MML changes in marijuana use prevalence among adolescents compared with changes in non-MML states over the same time period. All four studies comparing MML with non-MML states found higher rates of past-month marijuana use in MML states pre-MML passage.
“Synthesis of the current evidence does not support the hypothesis that U.S. MMLs until 2014 have led to increases in adolescent marijuana use prevalence,” the authors write.
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