Teen cannabis surveys may be missing rise in diagnosed disorder, study of 637,000 adolescents finds
New diagnoses of cannabis use disorder (CUD) among adolescents in Northern California began climbing after recreational cannabis was legalized in California in 2016, reversing a steady decline in the three years prior, according to a new study published in the journal Addiction. The researchers say their findings call for disorder-level outcomes to be tracked alongside standard measures of use…
The study of over 600,000 adolescents in Northern California reveals a surprising shift in cannabis use disorder (CUD) diagnoses following the legalization of recreational cannabis in 2016. Contrary to national survey figures that show a flat rate of teen cannabis use over two decades, researchers found a significant rise in CUD diagnoses after legalization, which reversed a steady decline in the three years prior.
The authors of the study, published in the Addiction journal, argue that this trend highlights the importance of tracking disorder-level outcomes alongside standard measures of use prevalence and frequency when evaluating the public health impacts of cannabis legalization. Factors contributing to the increase in CUD diagnoses include the reduction of criminal penalties for juveniles, a perceived normative social acceptance of cannabis, and the expansion of youth-appealing cannabis products as the retail market matured.
While the study has limitations, including a specific population of Kaiser Permanente Northern California insured adolescents and the absence of a comparison group, it provides valuable insight into the potential health consequences of cannabis legalization.
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