Monthly cannabis use among American adolescents aged 12-to-17-years-old is at its lowest point since 1994, according to a federal National Survey on Drug Use and Health report outlined by the Washington Post, as researchers found 6.5 percent of adolescents used cannabis on a monthly basis. Monthly cannabis use among adults among aged 18-to-25, 20.8 percent, and adults 26-to-34, 14.5 percent, are at their highest levels since 1985.
The data seems to prove the opposite of prohibitionist claims that legal cannabis leads to increased use among youths; and according to the survey, 24 million Americans currently use cannabis.
“The increase in marijuana use reflects increases in marijuana use among adults aged 26 or older and, to a lesser extent, among young adults aged 18 to 25,” the researchers conclude. “Marijuana use among adolescents aged 12 to 17 was lower in 2016 than in most years from 2009 to 2014.”
Both Washington state and Colorado voted to legalize cannabis in 2012.
Alcohol use among those 18-and-older fell 1 percent to 55 percent in 2016; however 65.3 million reported binge drinking, having five or more drinks on the same occasion at least once, within the last month.
Prescription pills were the second most used illicit drug by Americans, with 3.3 million admitting to misusing the drugs. Another 2 million said they misused prescription tranquilizers, and 1.7 million indicated they misused prescription stimulants, such as Adderall.
Earlier this week, the Washington State Institute for Public Policy reported that cannabis use rates among teenagers in the state is not up since legalization, and 90 percent of sixth graders, 85 percent of eighth graders, and 55 percent of tenth graders indicated cannabis was “very hard” to obtain.
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