Welcome to Cultivate... Spring Mountain - 3615 Spring Mountain Rd Monday-Sunday: 8:00 AM-3:00 AM Durango - 7105 N. Durango Dr. #120 Monday-Sunday: 8:00 AM-12:00 AM
Welcome to Cultivate... Spring Mountain - 3615 Spring Mountain Rd Monday-Sunday: 8:00 AM-3:00 AM Durango - 7105 N. Durango Dr. #120 Monday-Sunday: 8:00 AM-12:00 AM
cultivate logo

Legal Weed Linked to Decreased Use of Booze, Tobacco, and Opioids Among Young Adults


Image via

A new research study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health reports that increased access to legal cannabis is linked to decreased use of alcohol, cigarettes, and opioids by young adults.

Researchers from the University of Washington conducted this new study to discover if the legalization of adult-use cannabis in their home state led to increased drug abuse among young adults. Using six statewide surveys conducted between 2014 and 2019, researchers collected data on the self-reported alcohol, tobacco, and unprescribed painkiller use by 12,694 young adults between the ages of 18 to 25.

Critics of legalization often argue that cannabis is a “gateway drug” that somehow makes users more likely to abuse dangerous, addictive drugs like meth or fentanyl. Based on this weak science, prohibitionists have stoked up fears that cannabis legalization would inevitably lead to a spike in hard drug abuse.

If the gateway drug myth were accurate, drug abuse rates would begin to increase after adult-use cannabis became available. Instead, the study shows that the exact opposite is true. Since 2014, the year that Washington began selling legal weed, the “prevalence of past-month alcohol use, heavy episodic drinking (HED), and cigarette use and prevalence of past-year pain reliever misuse decreased,” the study authors explain.

“Contrary to concerns about spillover effects, implementation of legalized nonmedical cannabis coincided with decreases in alcohol and cigarette use and pain reliever misuse,” the study concluded.

Although use of booze, opioids, and cigarettes declined, young adults’ use of e-cigarettes increased significantly over the five-year study period. The popularity of tobacco vaping increased widely throughout the entire US during that time, though, so it is difficult to conclude that legal weed makes people more likely to vape tobacco. In fact, one study found that teens who vape nicotine are actually more likely to try pot, not the other way around.

Prohibitionists have also argued that legalization would lead to an increase in cannabis use among teens and children, but research has dispelled this myth as well. Data from Washington state confirms that teen pot use did not increase after adult-use weed became available, and other studies have shown that teen toking has held steady or even declined in any state that legalized weed. Teens in Uruguay and Canada, the first two countries to fully legalize weed, also haven’t started smoking more pot since it became legally available.

“Real-world data from legalization states disputes longstanding claims that cannabis is some sort of ‘gateway’ substance,” said NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano in a statement. “In fact, in many instances, cannabis regulation is associated with the decreased use of other substances, including many prescription medications.”


Chris Moore via (https://merryjane.com/news/legal-weed-linked-to-decreased-use-of-booze-tobacco-and-opioids-among-young-adults)

Keep out of reach of children. For use only by adults 21 years of age and older.

Recent Articles

Back to Blog
Massachusetts Recreational Marijuana Sales Hit $7 Billion Milestone, With Record-Breaking Seven-Month Surge, Officials Say Massachusetts Recreational Marijuana Sales Hit $7 Billion Milestone, With Record-Breaking Seven-Month Surge, Officials Say

Dec.19.2024

Photo courtesy of WeedPornDaily. Massachusetts adult-use marijuana sales have officially exceeded $7 billion since the state’s legal market launched in...

Read More
Marijuana Terpenes Relieve Post-Surgery And Fibromyalgia Pain, Study Shows Marijuana Terpenes Relieve Post-Surgery And Fibromyalgia Pain, Study Shows

Dec.16.2024

Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer. New government-funded research on terpenes produced by the cannabis plant finds that some of the...

Read More
House Passes Defense Bill That Omits Provisions To Prevent Marijuana Testing For Military Recruits House Passes Defense Bill That Omits Provisions To Prevent Marijuana Testing For Military Recruits

Dec.12.2024

Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan. The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a must-pass defense bill for that omits previously...

Read More

Shop by location

Spring Mountain

3615 Spring Mountain Rd Las Vegas, NV 89102

North Durango

7105 N. Durango Dr. #120 Las Vegas, Nevada 89149

Events

Join us for exciting dispensary events featuring exclusive offers, live entertainment, and special promotions!

Join our events

Sign up Download App Collect RewardsSign up

Las Vegas, NV

North Las Vegas, NV

Spring Valley, NV

Paradise, NV

Corn Creek, NV