Colorado Reports Teen Cannabis Use Is Down, but Adults Are Toking Up

As legalization continues to do away with the stigmas of prohibition’s past, the Centennial State’s leadership in cannabis reform has also decreased local teenage pot use, assuaging the primary worry of anti-weed advocates.

In the first of the two government-led studies, CDPHE’s 2017 Healthy Kids Colorado Survey, state health officials questioned more than 15,000 local middle and high schoolers about everything from bullying and sexual health to exercise and drug use. When it came to weed, 19% of teens surveyed said that they used cannabis, down 1% from 2013 statistics, before the plant was legalized for recreational sale.

Since breaking ground as the first U.S. state to implement adult-use marijuana legalization, Colorado has focused significant effort on disauding teenage consumption.

Another state-run annual survey, the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, found that 15.5% of adults 18 years and older said that they were current cannabis users, up two percentage points from last year alone.

As states across America continue to pass their own legalization laws and draw slices of Colorado’s green rush tourism, it appears that a growing local love for ganja will keep the state’s cannabis industry and residents mile-high for years to come.

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