Editor’s note: This commentary is by Paul Armentano, who is the deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) in Washington, D.C., and is the co-author of the book “Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink?”
[G]uest columnist Jill Rinehart expresses concerns with regard to the use and abuse of cannabis by adolescents (“Dangers of teen marijuana use”). Such concerns are not without merit. Cannabis is a mood-altering substance with abuse potential. That said, no one is advocating that either adolescents consume cannabis or that they have greater access to it. In fact, one of the core principles driving the demand for regulating the cannabis market in Vermont and elsewhere is to reduce teens’ access to the substance and to better discourage young people’s use of it.
Contrary to Dr. Rinehart’s claims, regulating the adult use marijuana market in states like Washington and Colorado has not led to greater use by young people. According to 2018 data compiled by the Colorado Department of Health, “Youth marijuana use remains relatively unchanged since legalization.” Data compiled by the Washington State Institute for Public Policy reaches a similar conclusion, finding: “(A)cross grades 6, 8, 10, and 12, cannabis use indicators have been stable or fallen slightly since I-502’s enactment. … We found no evidence that the amount of legal cannabis sales affected youth substance use or attitudes about cannabis or drug-related criminal convictions.”
Such statewide regulations already exist governing the use, production, and retail distribution of alcohol and tobacco – two substances that are far more dangerous and costly to society than is the responsible adult use of cannabis. The enforcement of these regulations, coupled with the promotion of public awareness campaigns designed to better educate consumers as to these products’ health effects, have proven effective at reducing the public’s use and misuse of these two substances — particularly among teenagers. Specifically, according to 2018 data compiled by the University of Michigan’s Monitoring the Future study, lifetime use of cigarettes by young people has fallen 70 percent since the early 1990s and is now at a historic low. The lifetime use of alcohol is also at an all-time low – having fallen 49 percent during this same time period.
Instead of reflexively opposing marijuana legalization, lawmakers, regulators, and public health advocates like Dr. Rinehart should welcome the opportunity to bring these necessary and long overdue controls to the cannabis market. A pragmatic regulatory framework that allows for the legal, licensed commercial production and retail sale of marijuana to adults but restricts its use among young people – coupled with a legal environment that fosters open, honest dialogue between parents and children about cannabis’ potential harms – best reduces the risks associated with the plant’s use or abuse. By contrast, advocating for the marijuana’s continued criminalization only compounds them.
