Child Psychiatrists Discuss Impact of Marijuana Legalization

With legislation loosening restrictions on marijuana use becoming more prevalent in the United States, researchers are investigating how its commercialization can impact society, especially youth.

At the annual meeting of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in San Diego in October, researchers from the University of Colorado School of Medicine presented comparative studies on the trends in cannabis use among adolescents and negative consequences associated with such use among individuals aged 16 and older during the pre- and post-commercialization eras of medical marijuana legalization in Colorado.

“With marijuana being first legalized for medicinal purposes and then later legalized for recreational use, it could be perceived by some adolescents that marijuana is OK to use,” said Stacy Salomonsen-Sautel, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow and a conference presenter, in an interview with Psychiatric News. “This is true not only for youth in Colorado, but youth throughout the nation.” According to the 2013 Monitoring the Future Survey, which is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, only 39 percent of 12 graders in the United States perceived marijuana use as harmful, down from the prior year’s rate of 44 percent (Psychiatric News, February 6).

Christian Hopfer, M.D., an associate professor of psychiatry at Colorado, told the audience that the current state of youth perception regarding cannabis use is even more disturbing after factoring in data that suggest that the amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)—the key psychoactive ingredient in marijuana—are five times higher in today’s version of marijuana than that used in the 1960s.

Describing his research, Hopfer showed that of 560 adolescents being treated for polysubstance use disorder from 2007 to 2013, those who entered treatment after 2009 (after commercialization of medical marijuana) were more likely to have higher amounts of THC in their urine and more polysubstance use at admission than individuals who accessed treatment for polysubstance abuse during the precommercialization era.

A study led by Salomonsen-Sautel showed that commercialization of medicinal marijuana in Colorado also correlated with an increase in fatal motor-vehicle crashes among drivers aged 16 and older who tested positive for marijuana use, whereas no change was seen among this category of drivers living in states without laws legalizing sale of marijuana for medical purposes.

“The increase in drivers positive for marijuana [use] after commercialization of medicinal marijuana is a public-health concern in Colorado,” Salomonsen-Sautel said at the symposium. Moreover, commercialization of recreational marijuana use was approved in Colorado in 2012, and studies are needed to assess the impact of recreational marijuana use on fatal motor-vehicle car crashes, he said.

As for Hopfer, he said that commercialization of marijuana is definitely a growing trend and is gaining momentum throughout the nation. “There is a lot of capital going towards this substance … [as well as] efforts to remarket it—trying to make it a more ‘upscale’ product,” he stated. During an interview with Psychiatric News, Hopfer stressed that because marijuana legislation will have a great impact on society, it is important for parents, adolescents, and psychiatrists to educate themselves on the “policy changes regarding marijuana, the pharmacology of marijuana, and the effects of marijuana on adolescent development and safety.” ■