(Press-News.org) PISCATAWAY, NJ—Given the increasing trend toward legalizing marijuana in many states, there is growing concern that underage youth may find the drug easier to access. In fact, a recent study reported in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs suggests that in areas with local retail availability of legalized marijuana, high school students are more likely to use marijuana and alcohol together, as well as alcohol alone.
“Greater retail availability may ‘normalize’ marijuana use for young people, even if they are unable to purchase marijuana directly from retail businesses, and retail sales may introduce greater access through social sources,” says study lead author Sharon O’Hara, Dr.P.H., lecturer at the University of California Berkeley School of Public Health and associate research scientist at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation.
For their research, O’Hara and colleagues used info from the 2010-2011 and 2018-2019 California Healthy Kids Surveys of 9th and 11th graders in 554 public high schools in 38 California cities. Students were asked how often they used marijuana and alcohol over the previous 30 days.
The researchers also calculated the density of marijuana and cannabis retail outlets in each area (the number of outlets per square mile within the city limits).
Among the full sample, O’Hara and colleagues found a significant interaction between recreational marijuana legalization and marijuana outlet density, indicating a greater increase in the likelihood of alcohol use and co-use of alcohol and marijuana in cities with higher retail availability of cannabis after the passage of recreational marijuana legalization. A positive association between recreational marijuana legalization and marijuana use was found in cities at all levels of marijuana outlet density.
That outcome was expected, but a closer look at the data found some surprising results.
“We were most surprised by the effects of recreational marijuana legalization on the co-use of alcohol and marijuana by subgroups of alcohol users versus cannabis users,” says O’Hara. “We found significant positive associations between recreational marijuana legalization and co-use for past-30-day drinkers but significant inverse associations between recreational marijuana legalization and co-use among past-30-day marijuana users.”
The researchers hypothesize that, since its legalization, marijuana use has been increasing in the general population of California adolescents, while alcohol use continues to decrease.
Given that, among the full sample of high school students, the effect of recreational marijuana legalization was strongest in the cities with relatively high marijuana outlet density, attention should be paid to policies that limit the retail availability of marijuana, says O’Hara.
“Regulatory policies can be considered at the state level and in local jurisdictions with zoning authority over retail marijuana businesses,” she says. “So, even if your state legalizes recreational marijuana, you may have the ability to regulate the number and location of retail marijuana businesses using local land use authority.”
As marijuana outlets and retail sales become as commonplace as alcohol stores, O’Hara and her co-researchers have concerns about the effects on high school students.
The researchers hope their findings help to inform future research on the possible effects of recreational marijuana legalization and marijuana retail outlet density on alcohol and marijuana co-use and guide investigations into the mechanisms underlying these associations.
-----
O’Hara, S. E., Paschall, M. J., & Grube, J. W. (2023). Recreational marijuana legalization, local retail availability, and alcohol and marijuana use and co-use among California high school students. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 84, 734–743. doi: 10.15288/jsad.22-00277
-----
To arrange an interview with Sharon O’Hara, Dr.P.H., please contact her at sohara@prev.org.
-----
The Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs (jsad.com) is published by the Center of Alcohol & Substance Use Studies (alcoholstudies.rutgers.edu) at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. It is the oldest substance-related journal published in the United States.
-----
The Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs considers this press release to be in the public domain. Editors may publish this press release in print or electronic form without legal restriction. Please include a byline and citation.
-----
To view the public domain, stock-photo database of alcohol, tobacco and other drug-related images compiled by the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, please visit www.jsad.com/photos.
END
Local retail outlets for legal marijuana may be associated with alcohol co-use among high school students: Study
2023-10-16
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Virtual driving assessment predicts risk of crashing for newly licensed teen drivers
2023-10-16
Philadelphia, October 16, 2023 – New research published today by the journal Pediatrics found that driving skills measured at the time of licensure on a virtual driving assessment (VDA), which exposes drivers to common serious crash scenarios, helps predict crash risk in newly licensed young drivers.
This study, conducted by the Center for Injury Research and Prevention (CIRP) at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) with colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Michigan, brings the research community one step closer to identifying which skill deficits put young new drivers at higher risk for crashes. With this cutting-edge information, ...
Treating high-risk drinking, alcohol use disorder: new Canadian guideline
2023-10-16
A new Canadian guideline for treating high-risk drinking and alcohol use disorder (AUD) with 15 evidence-based recommendations to reduce harms associated with high-risk drinking and to support people’s treatment and recovery from AUD is published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.230715.
High-risk drinking, AUD and alcohol-related harms are common in Canada. Nearly 18% of people aged 15 years or older in Canada will meet the clinical criteria for an AUD in their lifetime, and over 50% of people in Canada aged 15 years or older currently ...
Survey finds education is needed to identify lesser-known symptoms of breast cancer
2023-10-16
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- An overwhelming majority of adults (93%) recognize a lump as a symptom of breast cancer, but less than half recognize other common symptoms associated with the disease, according to a consumer survey commissioned by The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James).
Experts say this is very concerning, since most breast cancers do not present with a lump that can be detected by touch – and if they do, it often an ...
New 3D-printed tumor model enables faster, less expensive and less painful cancer treatment
2023-10-16
An international team of interdisciplinary researchers has successfully created a method for better 3D modelling of complex cancers.
The University of Waterloo-based team combined cutting-edge bioprinting techniques with synthetic structures or microfluidic chips. The method will help lab researchers more accurately understand heterogeneous tumours: tumours with more than one kind of cancer cell, often dispersed in unpredictable patterns.
Traditionally, medical practitioners would biopsy a patient’s tumour, extract cells, and then ...
UK needs AI legislation to create trust so companies can ‘plug AI into British economy’ – report
2023-10-16
UK will struggle to build new AI models that compete with ChatGPT and big US tech firms, despite the government's “Frontier AI Taskforce”, say researchers.
To boost the economy, UK should focus on developing products that apply “generative AI” to daily life, including tax breaks for businesses investing in AI skills.
Legislation regulating AI safety and transparency is needed, so British industry and education can confidently put time and resource into AI development.
The British government should offer tax breaks for businesses developing AI-powered products and services, or applying AI ...
New threat to Antarctic fur seals
2023-10-16
Antarctic fur seals that were hunted to near extinction have recovered but now face dangerous decline because of a lack of food, new research suggests.
The study of fur seals, almost all of which live on the sub-Antarctic islands of South Georgia, shows that the modern-day population peaked in 2009 at about 3.5 million – a healthy number, although significantly less than previously estimated. But a more detailed count of animals living on a particular South Georgia island called Bird Island also shows the seals are ...
New research reveals forgotten lives of Eurasian otters in Hong Kong
2023-10-16
Researchers have gained new insights into the lives and losses of Eurasian otters in Hong Kong, as detailed in a paper published by Oryx—The International Journal of Conservation, published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of international wildlife conservation charity Fauna & Flora.
Hong Kong is one of the world’s busiest metropolises, and the Eurasian otter Lutra lutra is among its most threatened wildlife. Dependence on lowland wetlands makes it particularly susceptible to human disturbance. Moreover, the low-lying region within Hong Kong where most otters can be found has been earmarked for a government-led mega ...
Opioid use disorder treatment associated with decreased risk of overdose after surgery, suggests first-of-its-kind study of over 4 million surgeries
2023-10-16
SAN FRANCISCO — Although people with opioid use disorder (OUD) are significantly more likely to overdose or have a complication after major surgery than those without the disorder, using medications for the treatment of OUD before surgery may eliminate that extra risk, suggests a large, first-of-its-kind study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY® 2023 annual meeting.
Patients with OUD who didn’t use an OUD medication (such as buprenorphine or methadone) were over four times more likely to overdose after having surgery, yet those who used evidence-based OUD medication ...
Babies with a low birthweight are four times more likely to develop fatty liver disease in later life, new study shows
2023-10-16
(16 October 2023, Copenhagen, Denmark) A groundbreaking new study, presented today at UEG Week 2023, has discovered a significant connection between birthweight and the onset of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease*, now known as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), in young people.1 Most notably, babies with a low birthweight were found to be four times more likely to develop MASLD in childhood, adolescence or young adulthood.1
To investigate this link, a team of researchers from Sweden used the nationwide ESPRESSO cohort and conducted a population-based case-control study of all ...
Gut microbiome variations could predict colorectal cancer risk, new study finds
2023-10-16
(Monday, 16 October 2023, Copenhagen, Denmark) New research has identified significant variations in the gut microbiome of individuals who developed pre-cancerous colonic lesions, suggesting a potential connection between gut bacteria and the onset of colorectal lesions and cancers.1 These findings, presented today at UEG Week 2023, open promising new avenues for enhancing the detection and prevention of colorectal cancer.1
The large-scale prospective study, involving 8208 participants, linked data from the Dutch Microbiome ...