 Another recently publlished report by the journal Psychological Medicine found that there was no link between states with legal access to cannabis, and any increased likeliness of developing substance abuse problems.
The researchers said, “Cannabis legalization was associated with no other adverse outcome … including cannabis use disorder.” The study also noted that residents living in legal cannabis states did not appear to show an increase in problems associated with mental health, relationships, work and finances. The study was done by observing 240 pairs of twins where one lives in the legal state of Colorado while the other lives in Minnesota, where cannabis remains prohibited. The twins were used as a way to control a wide range of variables, such as age, social background, early home life and even genetic inheritance. These factors can influence health outcomes, so using twins alleviates those. The lead researcher Stephanie Zellers said they found that those living in legal cannabis states were also less likely to drive drunk or develop alcohol use disorders. Zellers also said that there was “no diffefrence” between people living in a state with legal acess or not, in regard to whether or not they go on to try ‘harder’ drugs such as heroin or methamphetamine. This rejects the “gateway drug” theory some opponents still try to cling to. The researchers acknowledge that while the results are promising, the study does have it’s limitations and needs further study. Comments are closed.
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