Smart Approaches to Marijuana: A Response to a Tobacco and Alcohol Industry Funded “Study” of Youth Marijuana Use A new policy paper released on March 16, 2022 by the Coalition for Cannabis Policy, Education, and Regulation (CPEAR), funded by Molson Coors, Altria (Philip Morris), private cash and other companies is highly flawed and does not advance the discourse on the effect of state marijuana laws on youth marijuana use.
Conclusion: The literature on the effect of recreational marijuana laws on youth marijuana use is concerning–and at best mixed. It likely will not be resolved until longer-term, higher quality data is made available.
Consequently, the debate on the effect of state marijuana legalization on youth marijuana use is far from resolved. The limited evidence presented in the CPEAR paper does not meaningfully contribute to that discourse. On the other hand, as the CPEAR paper concedes, there is growing and substantial evidence that recreational marijuana laws are associated with increased marijuana-related harms among adolescents and young adults.9
The CPEAR press release headline——that recreational marijuana laws are not associated with youth marijuana use——should be ignored, and instead, policymakers and advocates should focus on the observed increase in marijuana-related harms among adolescents.
For complete Release CPEAR-Youth-Use-Debunked.pdf (learnaboutsam.org)