A recent study shows that legalization of cannabis does not lead to problematic consumption or impulsive behaviors
Marijuana opponents continue to lose their arguments. They have said that legalized marijuana would lead to more crime, which has already proven to be false, and that it would lead to users stepping into stronger, deadly drugs, which was also proven erroneous. Now, a recent study reveals that marijuana legalization doesn’t result in “problematic” consumption or in more impulsive behaviors.
The peer-reviewed study was led by several universities in Australia who gathered data in US states where marijuana has been legalized for medical or recreational use, or both. They concluded, “The results indicated that participants’ problematic cannabis use and impulsivity was not different whether they resided in states where cannabis is legal for medical and/or recreational use or prohibited.”
The results reviewed surveys that had been filled out by 329 frequent marijuana users – users who have consumed cannabis once or more each week over the year prior to the study. The researchers compared the responses of those living in legalized states to those where legalization has yet to be approved. They concluded, “The interaction between impulsivity and legalisation status was not significant in both models suggesting that the relationship between impulsivity and problematic cannabis use was not different depending on legalisation status.”
The researchers added, “The current findings go beyond prior studies to suggest that, at this point in time, the legalisation status of cannabis has not shown an association with cannabis use amongst frequent users, a finding supported by a growing body of literature. Although the detrimental health effects of frequent cannabis use are well established, our findings suggest that legalisation status does not worsen these effects.”
