Most teens say they consume less marijuana after legalization – ScienceDaily



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According to a new study by a professor at the WSU College of Nursing, a single group of teenagers has been using marijuana more often after legalizing retail sales in Washington than before. These are high school seniors who work 11 hours or more a week.

Marijuana use dropped significantly in the 8th and 10th years after legalization, and among the 12th who did not work. It has remained almost even for high school seniors who work less than 11 hours a week.

Research into the use and use of marijuana, led by Assistant Professor of the College of Nurses of the WSU, Janessa Graves, is included in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

Washington was one of the first states to approve the legalization of marijuana for retail. Recreational cannabis stores were opened in mid-2014.

The authors wanted to know if legalization in Washington had an impact on marijuana use among students in grades 8, 10 and 12 who were working in jobs that did not include housework, yard work or childcare. # 39; children. In their study, they used data from the biennial Healthy Youth Survey conducted by the state in 2010 and 2016.

Regardless of the clbad of students, those who worked at least 11 hours a week reported using marijuana more often than their non-working peers.

After legalization, 4.8% of non-working Grade 8 students reported using pots in the past 30 days, compared to 20.8% of their working peers. 13.9% of Grade 10 students reported using marijuana in the last 30 days in 2016 compared to 33.2% of Grade 10 students who worked at least 11 hours per week. The difference for Grade 12 students was 20.5% out of work compared to 36.7% work.

"Children who work more often consume substances, it's not a shock," said Graves, noting that other studies had shown the same result. Working adolescents generally come into contact with adults who are neither their coaches, nor their teachers, nor their parents, and they are often exposed to drug addiction. In addition, the study indicates that working adolescents have a higher disposable income than their non-working peers.

So what should a parent of an older teenager do?

"Children learn a lot by working, in terms of responsibility," said Graves. "But there is also excellent data showing that working children adopt similar behaviors to those of adults earlier.I would say this for all parents of working children: It is important to know the quality the management and supervision exercised in your child's work, the quality of a particular workplace ".

The study also suggests that employers could take action by advertising and enforcing zero tolerance policies for adult employees providing substances or recommending substance use to their teen colleagues. .

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Material provided by University of Washington State. Note: Content can be changed for style and length.

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