Does recreational cannabis legalization change cannabis use patterns? Evidence from secondary school students in Uruguay.

Background and Aims: In 2013, Uruguay became the first country to legalize and regulate the production and distribution of cannabis for recreational use. We measured whether Uruguay's non‐commercial model of recreational cannabis legalization was associated with changes in the prevalence of risky an...

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Published in:Addiction Vol. 117; no. 11; pp. 2866 - 2878
Main Authors: Rivera‐Aguirre, Ariadne, Castillo‐Carniglia, Alvaro, Laqueur, Hannah S., Rudolph, Kara E., Martins, Silva S., Ramírez, Jessica, Queirolo, Rosario, Cerdá, Magdalena
Format: research tables/charts Journal Article
Published: Wiley-Blackwell Nov2022
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: Nov2022
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      pub: Wiley-Blackwell
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        atl: Does recreational cannabis legalization change cannabis use patterns? Evidence from secondary school students in Uruguay.
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          Rivera‐Aguirre, Ariadne
          Castillo‐Carniglia, Alvaro
          Laqueur, Hannah S.
          Rudolph, Kara E.
          Martins, Silva S.
          Ramírez, Jessica
          Queirolo, Rosario
          Cerdá, Magdalena
        affil: Department of Population Health, Division of Epidemiology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, USA
      sug:
        subj:
          Recreational Drug Use Legislation and Jurisprudence
          Cannabis Legislation and Jurisprudence
          Students, High School
          Substance Abuse Trends
          Human
          Male
          Female
          Child
          Adolescence
          Uruguay
          Chile
          Comparative Studies
          Young Adult
          Prevalence
          Descriptive Statistics
          Confidence Intervals
          Questionnaires
          Child: 6-12 years
          Adolescent: 13-18 years
          Male
          Female
      ab: Background and Aims: In 2013, Uruguay became the first country to legalize and regulate the production and distribution of cannabis for recreational use. We measured whether Uruguay's non‐commercial model of recreational cannabis legalization was associated with changes in the prevalence of risky and frequent cannabis use among secondary school students. Design: We used data from repeated cross‐sectional surveys of secondary students in Uruguay and Chile (2007–2018). Using a difference‐in‐difference approach, we evaluated changes in the prevalence of past‐year, past‐month, any risky and frequent cannabis use following enactment (2014) and implementation (2016) of cannabis legalization among the full sample of secondary students and among students who reported past‐year/month use. We examined changes separately for students ages 12 to 17, and students for whom cannabis became legally accessible, ages 18 to 21. Setting: Uruguay and Chile (2007–2018). Participants: Secondary school students in 8th, 10th and 12th grade (n = 204 730). Measurements Past‐year and past‐month cannabis use; any risky cannabis use measured with the Cannabis Abuse Screening Test (CAST); and frequent cannabis use (10+ days in the past‐month). Findings We found a decrease in past‐year and past‐month use following enactment or implementation. Among students ages 18 to 21, post‐enactment, we observed a transitory increase in 2014 that decreased thereafter for: any risky use among those who reported past‐year use (prevalence difference [PD] = 13.5%; 95% CI: 2.0, 24.9), frequent use in the full sample (PD = 4.5%; 95% CI: 1.0, 8.1), and frequent use among those who reported past‐month use (PD = 16.8%; 95% CI: 1.9, 31.8). Conclusion: The legalization of recreational cannabis in Uruguay was not associated with overall increases in either past‐year/past‐month cannabis use or with multi‐year changes in any risky and frequent cannabis use among young people.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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