A new survey has revealed that one out of four high school seniors in the U.S. would try marijuana or use it more often if it was legalized.
The Monitoring the Future survey, which is funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan, found that roughly 15% of 12th graders in the nation would try pot if it was legal. This is the highest in the survey’s 43-year history.
The survey also found that roughly 10% of current users would use it more often.
“These findings fly in the face of the Big Marijuana argument that somehow fewer young people will use marijuana if it is legalized,” remarked Kevin Sabet, founder and president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana.
“These data are clear. As more states move to commercialize, legalize and normalize marijuana, more young people are going to use today’s super-strength drug,” he said in a news release.
Survey co-investigator Richard Miech and colleagues have said, “It is likely that the growing number of states that have legalized recreational marijuana use for adults plays a role in the increasing tolerance of marijuana use among 12th-grade students, who may interpret increasing legalization as a sign that marijuana use is safe and state-sanctioned.”
