For years, one of the biggest arguments against legalizing cannabis has been that legalization drives teenage use up. The latest federal data just came out, and it says almost the exact opposite.
In this episode of TDR Cannabis in 5, host Shadd Dales breaks down reporting from Marijuana Moment on the CDC’s latest Youth Risk Behavior Survey, showing just 12.9% of U.S. high school students reported using marijuana in the previous 30 days, an all-time low, down from 23.1% in 2011, the year before Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize recreational cannabis.
The data doesn’t stop there. Lifetime marijuana use among high schoolers fell from 39.9% in 2011 to 25.5% in 2025, and the National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows past-year use among 12 to 17 year olds dropping from 14.2% in 2011 to just 8.7% in 2025. This comes directly from the federal government, not industry data, and it lands as legalization has expanded across a large portion of the country over that exact same period.
Even Smart Approaches to Marijuana now acknowledges national teen use sits near historic lows, while still raising concerns about cannabis use disorder and heavy use among some teens. Research published in JAMA has also found no evidence that adult-use legalization or the opening of dispensaries actually caused increases in youth consumption. While correlation isn’t causation, the nationwide explosion in teen marijuana use that legalization opponents warned about simply hasn’t materialized, and the episode makes the case that when credible federal data contradicts a major talking point, that talking point deserves real reevaluation.
00:00:00 — Is Teen Cannabis Use Rising?
00:00:44 — Federal Data Hits Record Low
00:01:15 — Teen Cannabis Use Drops 44%
00:01:48 — Adolescent Marijuana Use Keeps Falling
00:02:15 — Legalization vs. Youth Use
00:02:40 — SAM Responds to the Data
00:03:40 — What the Research Actually Shows
TDRCannabisIn5 #TeenCannabisUse #CDCData #CannabisLegalization #YouthRiskSurvey #CannabisPolicy #CannabisNews #SmartApproachesToMarijuana #CannabisReform #FederalCannabisPolicy
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