Use of marijuana and other drugs among adolescents has not increased in California since the passage of Proposition 215, according to data released Friday by the government’s National Household Survey on Drug Abuse.
“These figures belie claims of Prop. 215 opponents, led by Attorney General Dan Lungren and Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey, that the approval of medical marijuana will lead to an explosion of teen drug abuse in California,” Dale Gieringer said.
The survey found that adolescent marijuana use is lower in California than in other states. Among youth age 12 to 17, less than seven percent of Californians reported using marijuana monthly versus ten percent nationwide.
Survey data did find that a higher percentage of California adults reported using marijuana than the national average, but noted that this figure has remained stable since 1994.
“The new Household data, the first to cover the post-1996 period, flatly contradict claims that Proposition 215 sent a ‘damaging signal’ to both adults and children,” Gieringer said. This year’s Household survey included special close-up data for California at the request of Office of National Drug Control Policy head Barry McCaffrey. After the passage of Proposition 215 in November 1996, McCaffrey alleged that “increased drug abuse in every category will be the inevitable result” of the medical marijuana law.
Nationwide, the survey determined that more adolescents reported using marijuana in 1997 than the previous year.
For more information, please contact either Dale Gieringer of California NORML @ (415) 563-5858 or Allen St. Pierre of The NORML Foundation @ (202) 483-8751.
[Additional Info at California NORML]
