Teen marijuana use falls to 20-year low, defying legalization opponents’ predictions

Public health experts tend worry more about adolescent than adult drug use because adolescent brains are still developing
The Washington Post (US)
Thursday, September 7, 2017

In 2016, rates of marijuana use among the nation's 12- to 17-year-olds dropped to their lowest level in more than two decades, according federal survey data. Last year, 6.5 percent of adolescents used marijuana on a monthly basis, according to the latest National Survey on Drug Use and Health. That represents a statistically significant drop from 2014, when the nation's first recreational marijuana shops opened in Washington state and Colorado. The last time monthly teen marijuana use was this low was 1994, according to the survey. The federal data show that adult marijuana use, on the other hand, is rising. (See also: Here's one marijuana trend you should actually be worried about)