Colorado Sees Increase in Teen Pot Use

Experts in Colorado are starting to study the impact medical marijuana has had on teen drug use in their state.

Two recently released national surveys, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the University of Michigan’s Monitoring the Future data have shown increases in teen marijuana use, marked by a decreased perception of harm in the drug.

"The basic rule with any drug is if the drug becomes more available in the society, there will be more use of the drug," Thomas Crowley, a University of Colorado psychiatry professor and director of the university's Division of Substance Dependence, told The Denver Post. "And as use expands, there will be more people who have problems with the drug."

In treatment centers, clinicians are treating more and more teens for marijuana addiction since the state legalized marijuana for medicinal use. At the Denver Health Medical Center, treatment referrals have tripled with 83 percent of the teens who smoke pot daily saying they obtained it from a medical marijuana patient.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse allocated money for health advocates to study the effects of medical-marijuana policies on broader drug use and public health. NIDA officials decided to offer the funding after seeing a rapid change in marijuana policies across the country — 15 states and the District of Columbia now have medical-marijuana programs.