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Did Youth Cannabis Use Increase after a Minimum Legal Age limit? - Video

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Overview

A recent study in JAMA Network reports a cross-sectional study with difference-in- analysis of 1005 youths aged 15 to 20 years, although youth cannabis use still increased after the policy change. the increase in past-3-month cannabis use among youths aged 18 to 20 years was 51% lower. However, There was no change in cannabis use among youths aged 15 to 17 years.

In January 2020, a Canadian province raised the minimum legal age (MLA) for cannabis from 18 to 21 years. Although it is believed that a higher minimum legal age will protect youths from the harms of cannabis use, however critics argue that it will push them back to the illegal market.

The study sample included 1005 respondents. And it was found that after policy implementation, the increase in past-3-month cannabis use among youths aged 18 to 20 was 51%, lower. The results were robust to several checks, including accounting for possible confounding effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on cannabis use.

Hence, it was concluded that an increase in the minimum legal age from 18 to 21 years was associated with a significantly lower increase in cannabis use among youths aged 18 to 20 years but no change in cannabis use among those aged 15 to 17 years. These findings can help to alleviate concerns that youths would switch to illegal markets in response to a higher minimum legal age.

Reference: Nguyen HV, Mital S. Changes in Youth Cannabis Use After an Increase in Cannabis Minimum Legal Age in Quebec, Canada. JAMA Netw Open. 2022;5(6):e2217648. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.17648

Speakers

Dr. Nandita Mohan

Dr. Nandita Mohan is a practicing pediatric dentist with more than 5 years of clinical work experience. Along with this, she is equally interested in keeping herself up to date about the latest developments in the field of medicine and dentistry which is the driving force for her to be in association with Medical Dialogues. She also has her name attached with many publications; both national and international. She has pursued her BDS from Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bangalore and later went to enter her dream specialty (MDS) in the Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry from Pt. B.D. Sharma University of Health Sciences. Through all the years of experience, her core interest in learning something new has never stopped. She can be contacted at editorial@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751

Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli

Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: drkohli@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751
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