#NORML #News @WeedConnection

Seattle, WA: Marijuana use by teens fell significantly in King County, Washington (population: 2.3 million) following the state’s adoption of adult-use legalization, according to data provided by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Investigators reported that cannabis use fell 60 percent among males and 42 percent among females from 2012 to 2021. (Voters approved a ballot initiative legalizing the adult use market in 2012; retail cannabis sales began in 2014.)

The study’s authors suggested that legalization likely made it more difficult for teens to access cannabis.

“The observed overall decreases in cannabis use among students in grades 8, 10, and 12 might be associated with changes in the availability of cannabis among persons aged >=21 years as well as limited opportunities to engage in use,” they wrote. “The period 2012–2014 includes the legalization of nonmedical cannabis in Washington in 2012. Researchers studying the association of cannabis laws with cannabis use among high school students have observed similar declines in cannabis use after legalization of nonmedical cannabis. The legalization of nonmedical cannabis for adults aged >=21 years in Washington with licensed dispensaries requiring proof of age might have affected availability of cannabis to younger persons as well as their opportunities to engage in its use. This, in turn, might have had an impact on use prevalence.”

The authors’ findings are consistent with those of several other studies documenting declines in young people’s use of cannabis following states’ adoption of adult-use legalization laws.

Full text of the study, “Cannabis use among students in grades 8. 10, and 12, by sex: King County, Washington, 2008-2012,” is available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Study: THC Blood Levels Not Correlated With Changes In Driving Performance

Toronto, Canada: The presence of THC in blood is not predictive of detriments in psychomotor performance, according to driving simulator data published in the journal JAMA Network Open.

Researchers affiliated with the University of Toronto assessed subjects’ simulated driving performance at baseline and then again 30 and 180 minutes after smoking cannabis. Participants were between the ages of 65 and 79 years old and smoked cannabis (mean THC potency: 19 percent) ad libitum prior to driving.

Subjects exhibited “small changes in SDLP [weaving]” 30 minutes after cannabis inhalation. Investigators described these changes as less pronounced than those associated with drivers with a BAC below 0.05 percent.

Consistent with the results of prior studies, participants decreased their speed after smoking and were more likely to self-assess their performance as “impaired.” Cannabis use did not impact participants’ reaction times.

Subjects’ simulated driving performance returned to baseline within three hours.

The study’s authors concluded: “The purpose of the present study was to investigate the association between cannabis and driving and blood THC levels in older adults. … There was no correlation between blood THC concentration and SDLP [standard deviation in lateral positioning] or MS [mean speed]. … The lack of correlation between driving and blood THC fits within emerging evidence that there is not a linear relationship between the two.”

That conclusion is consistent with numerous studies reporting that neither the detection of THC nor its metabolites in blood and/or other bodily fluids is predictive of impaired driving performance. As a result, NORML has long opposed the imposition of per se THC limits for motorists and has alternatively called for the expanded use of mobile performance technology like DRUID.

Full text of the study, “Cannabis and driving in older adults,” appears in JAMA Network Open.

Analysis: Cannabis Use In Adolescence Not Independently Linked To Poorer Educational Outcomes

Helsinki, Finland: The use of alcohol, but not cannabis, in adolescence is independently associated with poorer educational attainment, according to longitudinal data published in the journal BMC Public Health.

Finnish investigators assessed the relationship between the use of cannabis and alcohol by adolescents and lifetime educational attainment in a cohort of more than 6,500 subjects.

They reported that the frequent use of alcohol during adolescence was significantly associated with poorer lifetime educational attainment after controlling for confounders. By contrast, early-onset cannabis use was not a statistically significant risk factor after researchers controlled for other variables.

The study’s authors concluded: “In this large birth cohort study with a 17-year follow-up, younger age at first intoxication, higher frequency of alcohol intoxication, and high self-reported alcohol tolerance at age 15/16 years were associated with poorer educational outcomes by the age of 33 years. These adverse associations were evident regardless of a range of potential confounders, such as behavioral/emotional problems at age 7/8 years and parental education level. The association between adolescent lifetime cannabis use and educational attainment in adulthood was no longer statistically significant after adjusting for potential confounders including alcohol use. Our finding that inherent alcohol tolerance in adolescence was associated with subsequent educational attainment has not been previously reported.”

Full text of the study, “Adolescent alcohol and cannabis use in early adulthood educational attainment in the 1986 Finland birth cohort study,” appears in BMC Public Health.

New Jersey: Regulators Finalize Plans For Opening Cannabis Cafes

Trenton, New Jersey: State regulators have signed off on rules governing the operation of cannabis consumption lounges. Regulators are expected to review business applications in the coming months.

Under the plan, dispensary owners would be eligible to open no more than one café. Patrons must be 21 to enter and sales of food or alcohol are prohibited.

Fewer than half of legal cannabis states permit on-site cannabis consumption facilities.

New Jersey legalized the adult-use cannabis market in 2021.

Additional information is available from the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission.