August 23, 2004
Despite the federal government's repeated insistence that allowing medical marijuana use would "send the wrong message" to teens, a new study shows the exact opposite seems to be happening in California.
In the last 8 years since medical marijuana became legal in California, the number of 9th-graders using the drug has dropped by almost half. In 1996, 34.2 percent of freshmen reported using marijuana within six months of being asked. This year's percentage is 18.8.
Will the study of teens in the state with the oldest medical marijuana law in the United States cause the Drug Czar's office to back off? Not likely. But it could show lawmakers and voters in other states that it's safe to approve medical marijuana without imperiling children.
"Frankly, it never made any sense that kids would think a drug is cool because cancer or AIDS patients use it to keep from vomiting," said Bruce Mirken of the Marijuana Policy Project, which first reported the study last week.
Despite the federal government's repeated insistence that allowing medical marijuana use would "send the wrong message" to teens, a new study shows the exact opposite seems to be happening in California.
In the last 8 years since medical marijuana became legal in California, the number of 9th-graders using the drug has dropped by almost half. In 1996, 34.2 percent of freshmen reported using marijuana within six months of being asked. This year's percentage is 18.8.
Will the study of teens in the state with the oldest medical marijuana law in the United States cause the Drug Czar's office to back off? Not likely. But it could show lawmakers and voters in other states that it's safe to approve medical marijuana without imperiling children.
"Frankly, it never made any sense that kids would think a drug is cool because cancer or AIDS patients use it to keep from vomiting," said Bruce Mirken of the Marijuana Policy Project, which first reported the study last week.
