Cannabis use by teens has declined nearly 25 over age

The number of regular regular cannabis users in the United States is declining at a rate similar to regular marijuana use among teenagers new research shows.

And overall use of cannabis products by teens no longer was more common than years past even in states that once had similar cannabis use rates.

We see how the perception regarding efficacy is changing over time but there has been no change in the pattern of marijuana use among teenagers study co-author Mary Ann Valdez a research associate at the Kaiser Family Foundation said in a conference call with reporters.

Indexing suspicionThe research team analyzed data from 2016-17 state data and common attitudes about alcohol and cannabis. They found more participants thought marijuana was more harmful than usual. And more people thought children and teens are less likely to stop and think about using marijuana the report showed.

The pattern was also similar for when teens were younger than 20 the broadest age group in the study.

Astonishing findingsThe research team found similar patterns: The use of medical marijuana decreased during the period frame from 51 in 2016 to 56 in 2017 a 25 decrease. Prescription of cannabis decreased slightly from 39 to 37. The number of people who said they used cannabis before age 15 dropped from 30 to 26 a 21 decline. And young people who started using cannabis by age 20 dipped from 21 to 18 dropping from 33 to 30. And use in adolescence plateaued falling from 20 to 18 during the six-year period. And the proportion of young people using marijuana at least once a day dropped from 62 to 57. The percentage who said they smoked daily or regularly increased by 3 percentage points from 49 to 52. About half of adolescents and young adults who used the first prescription drug next month were getting it from their doctors the study found. But rates of daily or monthly cannabis use dipped from 17 to 15 among young adults.

And the proportion of people who said they used cannabis products containing THC rose slightly to 20 – a higher percentage than in 2019 when daily use was about 10 greater. Daily use of less than 10 of your total daily dose was below 20. Drs. Mandy Suda and Aesha Nanda of the University of Michigan and Colleen Schneider of the University of Texas at Austin surveyed the interviewees each of whom was under the age of 18. Those who said they used cannabis products comprised 10 of the total interviewees.

The researchers pooled the data using an approach that allows them to tease out immediate effects from a small number of data points.

The information on weekly and monthly marijuana use could help mitigate the effects of cannabis withdrawal the authors wrote. And for younger and more economically disadvantaged people marijuana use tended to drop out earlier than the more traditional cannabis strains tended to be picked up gradually.

National data state policies and trends may have impacted the findings the authors said.

Because many states have legalized medical and recreational cannabis they wrote the cannabis market is emerging as a volatile and dynamic operation (…) and (more-educated adults may be less likely to use or abuse cannabis products.

If the data helps inform new strategies for health professionals they said education efforts about tolerance dependence and addiction could also help.

Tolerance addiction and cannabis use are neither mutually exclusive the authors noted.

Samuel L Jackson III a venerable war veteran at Vanderbilt University who didnt work on the study highlighted it as one of the carotid research programs most noteworthy findings.

Grand Challenges to Prevent Teen Cannabis Use Are Delving Into Conflicting Perspectives on Product Safety Jackson wrote in an accompanying commentary.

Jackson who wasnt involved in Jacksons study lives in Tennessee but studies the cannabis market there.

The chemical change in the plant the resin is different Jackson noted. There it just doesnt smell the same. The change he said is like a plant thats been rearranged and theres no normal plant left.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention girls and young adults ages 12 to 20 who have ever used cannabis in the past year use it more often more frequently then even then.

This research shouldnt cause ripples said Ritu Verma medical director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

When adolescents start using cannabis they might start to use more potent products and be more


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