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Do Efforts to Legalize Marijuana for Medical Use Encourage Teen Drug Use?

March 25, 2002--The following article appears in the March 15, 2002, edition of CQ Researcher, a publication of the Congressional Quarterly Press.

By Sue Rusche President, and CEO, National Families in Action. Written for The CQ Researcher, Feb. 22, 2002.

Almost certainly, yes. Because no research has been conducted to answer this question, no one can say for sure. But there is certainly a strong correlation.

California voters passed Proposition 215, the nation's first medical marijuana initiative, in November 1996. The issue received intense press coverage and California's teenagers got the message: their past-month marijuana use increased by nearly one-third that year, from 6.5% to 9.2% according to the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. Although use declined the next year, it has increased every year since then. The figures are 1995--6.5%, 1996--9.2%, 1997–6.8%, 1998–7.4%, and 1999–8.4%. (1)

Medical marijuana proponents ignore the findings of the national survey, and point to the California Student Survey, which has tracked alcohol and drug use among the state's students since 1985. This survey shows adolescent drug use decreased since Prop 215 passed. Why the difference between the two surveys?

Until the 1995-1996 school year, California required "passive" parental consent. The state informed parents they could exempt their children from taking surveys by sending written notice to the school. Most parents did not request exemption, were presumed to give their consent, and most kids took the survey.

But as school surveys multiplied and covered other topics, parents began to complain about inappropriate questions some surveys asked. California responded by switching to an "active consent" policy. Since 1995-1996, no student can be surveyed without written consent from his parents – and from the student himself!

This policy change produced a huge reduction in the number of students surveyed. Only 57% participated the first year, the lowest in the history of the survey. This almost certainly skewed results, missing most drug-using students who could now opt out of the survey. Moreover, the return of parental consent forms varied widely, from as low as 7% in some schools to as high as 92% in others, further skewing the sample and therefore its results.(2)

A second state survey – which requires neither parental nor student consent because it collects school crime data – shows a far different picture. Drug and alcohol use on school campuses increased 19% since the 1995-1996 school year. Sales rose 25% and possession of drug paraphernalia, a clear signal of student drug use, rose a whopping 53%.(3)

References
1. Summary of Findings from the 1998 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Rockville, Maryland, August 1999, Table 58, page 125; Summary of Findings from the 1999 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Rockville, Maryland, August 2000, Table 3.19, page 97.

2. Sixth Biennial Statewide Survey of Drug and Alcohol Use Among California Students in Grades 7, 9, and 11, Winter 1995-1996, Gregory Austin, Ph.D. and Rodney Skager, Ph.D., California Attorney General's Office, California Department of Education, Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs, Department of Health Services, May 1998, page 9.

3. California Safe Schools Assessment, 2000-01, California Department of Education, 2002, Table 1.

Ms. Rusche is Chair, President, and CEO of National Families in Action, a drug prevention organization, and co-author with neuroscientist David Friedman of False Messengers: How Addictive Drugs Change the Brain, Harwood Academic Books.

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