State Medi-Pot Laws Not Associated With Increased Drug Use, Study Says
August 15, 2007 - College Station, TX, USA
College Station, TX: The enactment of state laws legalizing the medical use of cannabis is not associated with an increase in the drug’s recreational use, according to statistical data published in the International Journal of Drug Policy.
Investigators at the Texas A&M Health Science Center, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, analyzed cannabis use trends among two high-risk subgroups (arrestees and emergency room patients) in five cities and five metropolitan areas in states that have enacted medical cannabis laws. In the four states (California, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington) analyzed, researchers reported, "The introduction of medical cannabis laws was not associated with an increase in cannabis use."
Previous studies performed by the University of Michigan and others have also reported that liberalizing marijuana penalties is not associated with an increase in pot use.
Texas A&M investigators speculated that the passage of medical cannabis laws may "de-glamorize" the drug’s use and "thereby [does] little to encourage [its] use among other" non-medical patients.
A previous study of state medi-pot policies by the US General Accounting Office (GAO) reported that the laws have not led to widespread abuses among the general public.
"Fears that allowing the physician-supervised use of medical cannabis will ‘send a mixed message’ to young people or lead to a significant spike in pot’s personal use are unfounded," said NORML Senior Policy Analyst Paul Armentano. "Such concerns, though popular among opponents of cannabis law reform, are based on rhetoric – not fact – and should not guide public policy."
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at: paul@norml.org
Full text of the study, "Do medical cannabis laws encourage cannabis use?" appears in the May issue of the International Journal of Drug Policy.
DL: norml.org |
