Has High School Pot use really NOT increased since Legalization?

Teens get high on pot a few feet away from kids playing. The average age of introduction to pot is 12

This is an excerpt from an article by our friends at Parents of Colorado against the normalization of dope

The marijuana industry and the CO state health department wants you to think so.
https://blog.mpp.org/research/study-shows-no-increase-co-teen-use-legalization/

We are appalled and disgusted by the lack of responsibility and integrity of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. (Recall, a couple years back, they recommended to ban edibles, then quickly caved to pressure from the industry and Governor Hickenlooper. AND, don't get us started on the Good to Know campaign, there are new billboards on I-70 in Wheat Ridge instructing users to wait 4 hours after eating edibles)

Christine Thurstone, wife of Dr. Chris Thurstone, journalist and media expert weighed in on the flaws of the study and information sent to the media.
 

1. Jefferson County Schools -- the state's largest district -- do not participate in this state survey. 

2. El Paso County Schools -- home to Colorado Springs -- do not participate in this state survey.

3. Only kids who are enrolled in school take this state survey. Students with drug problems tend not to be in school. 

4. The state refuses to recognize that the boom in marijuana availability to youth started in 2009 with the issuance of the Department of Justice's now infamous "Ogden Memo." So, if you're going to study changes in adolescent marijuana use, you have to look at pre/post 2009. Sorry, folks, but looking since 2013 isn't going to tell you much -- especially if you're not surveying two of the state's largest school districts. Remember: a ROBUST sample size is not necessarily a REPRESENTATIVE sample. 

4. Colorado and Washington -- two big-time marijuana states -- have not participated in the CDC's national survey that is cited for the national average rate of youth use. In the most recent CDC survey, Oregon didn't participate, either. So, using that CDC study to say Colorado is below the national rate is a big joke. Instead, we should look at the National Survey On Drug Use and Health, which is a HOUSEHOLD survey. Why is that important? Because it's a HOUSEHOLD survey that captures the data of drug-using youth who are not in school! (The CDC study, like this Colorado Healthy Kids survey, quizzes only those kids who are actually in school.) And get this: the NSDUH -- which experts consider the most reliable data in our country now -- clearly shows Colorado's youth use rate is the highest in the U.S. among 12-17 year olds. 

5. When Dr. Larry Wolk says the pot use rate has remained flat among Colorado youth, he is comparing two years of data -- and not bothering with the more complicated math showing that, why, yes, the use rates have increased dramatically since 2009. And when he says the slight fluctuation (it was an increase) is not "statistically significant," ask him if that's true if he were to go back to 2009, when the state started building more dispensaries than Starbucks.

6. The survey methodology itself is suspect; the response rate was only 46 percent, which could mean the survey missed (through drop out and absenteeism) the very students most at risk for reporting marijuana use. 

7. The survey is reported at the .01 statistical significance level, rather than the standard .05 level, which means it is considerably harder to find statistical significance in the changes. THAT'S why they say the rate changes are “flat.” What happens when the level is moved to the STANDARD for these calculations? And why is this level not STANDARD in the first place? 

What Scientific and Medical Journals and Experts Say About Marijuana

Below are a sample of 30 studies and statements, of over 20,000, on the harms of marijuana. More found here.

1. Marijuana use creates neurocognitive impairments and cannabis intoxication in both frequent and infrequent users. 
-- Journal of Scientific Reports, May 2016 (Cannabis and Tolerance: Acute Drug Impairment as a Function of Cannabis Use History).

2. Prevalence of cannabis use is expected to increase if cannabis is legal to use and legally available.
-- International Journal of Drug Policy, May 2016 (Correlates of Intentions to Use Cannabis among US High School Seniors in the Case of Cannabis Legalization)

3. Regular exposure to cannabis is associated with neuroanatomic alterations in several brain regions.
-- Journal of Biological Psychiatry, April 2016 (The Role of Cannabinoids in Neuroanatomic Alterations in Cannabis Users)

4. Marijuana is addicting, has adverse effects upon the adolescent brain, is a risk for both cardio-respiratory disease and testicular cancer, and is associated with both psychiatric illness and negative social outcomes.
-- Statement of the American College of Pediatricians, April 2016 (Marijuana Use: Detrimental to Youth).

5. Marijuana use has significant neuropharmacologic, cognitive, behavioral, and somatic consequences.
-- Statement of the American Academy of Pediatrics, March 2015 (The Impact of Marijuana Policies on Youth: Clinical, Research, and Legal Update)

6. Marijuana use is associated increased incidence and worsened course of psychotic, mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders across the lifespan…and marijuana’s deleterious effects on adolescent brain development, cognition, and social functioning may have immediate and long-term implications.
-- Statement of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 2014 (AACAP Marijuana Legalization Policy Statement)

7. Marijuana use may cause impairment in memory, concentration, and executive functioning…and may lead to permanent nervous system toxicity.
-- Statement of the American Academy of Neurology (Position Statement: Use of Medical Marijuana for Neurologic Disorders)

8. There is a strong association of cannabis use with the onset of psychiatric disorders. Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to harm, given the effects of cannabis on neurological development.
-- Statement of the American Psychiatric Association, December 2013 (Position Statement on Marijuana as Medicine)
 

9. Both marijuana-related hospitalizations and ED visits have increased substantially in recent years.                                                 -- Newsletter of the American College of Physicians, January 2016 (Public Health Researchers Look at Rise in Marijuana-related Hospitalizations)

10. Cannabis dependence is not associated with fewer harmful economic and social problems than alcohol dependence.
-- Journal of Clinical Psychological Science, June 2016 (Persistent Cannabis Dependence and Alcohol Dependence Represent Risks for Midlife Economic and Social Problems: A Longitudinal Cohort Study)

11. Repeated exposure to cannabis during adolescence may have detrimental effects on brain resting functional connectivity, intelligence, and cognitive function.
-- Journal of the Cerebral Cortex, February 2016 (Adverse Effects of Cannabis on Adolescent Brain Development: A Longitudinal Study)

12. Negative health effects of marijuana use can include addiction, abnormal brain development, psychosis, and other negative outcomes.
-- New England Journal of Medicine, June 2014 (Adverse Health Effects of Marijuana Use)

13. One in six infants and toddlers admitted to a Colorado hospital with coughing, wheezing and other symptoms of bronchiolitis tested positive for marijuana exposure.
-- American Academy of Pediatrics, April 2016 (One in Six Children Hospitalized for Lung Inflammation Positive for Marijuana Exposure)

14. Study respondents who were high had higher odds driving while intoxicated (on either marijuana or alcohol).
-- Journal of Health Education Research, April 2016 (Association Between Self-reports of Being High and Perceptions About the Safety of Drugged and Drunk Driving)

15. Cannabis use during adolescence increases the risk of developing a psychiatric disorder in adulthood, including anxiety, depression, and schizophrenia.
-- Frontiers in Neuroscience, November 2014 (Long-term Consequences of Adolescent Cannabinoid Exposure in Adult Psychopathology)

16. Childhood exposure to marijuana increases in marijuana friendly states and can lead to coma, decreased breathing, or seizures.
-- Journal of Clinical Pediatrics, June 2015 (Marijuana Exposure Among Children
Younger Than Six Years in the United States)

17. Use of marijuana in adolescence found to increase developing psychosis,
schizophrenia, anxiety, and depression in adulthood.
-- Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School, 2014 (Marijuana 101, Dr. Sharon Levy)

18. Cannabis use may cause enduring neuropsychological impairment that persists beyond the period of acute intoxication.
-- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, July 2012 (Persistent Cannabis Users Show Neuropsychological Decline from Childhood to Midlife)

19. Cannabis use disorder is prevalent, associated with comorbidity and disability, and largely untreated.
-- The American Journal of Psychiatry, March 2016 (Prevalence and Correlates of DSM-5 Cannabis Use Disorder, 2012-2013: Findings from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions–III)

20. We recorded clear and consistent associations and dose-response relations between the frequency of adolescent cannabis use and all adverse young adult outcomes.
-- The Lancet-Psychiatry, September 2014 (Young Adult Sequelae of Adolescent Cannabis Use: An Integrative Analysis)

21. While marijuana may be safer than alcohol in some respects, there are important dimensions along which marijuana appears to be the riskier substance.
-- Carnegie Mellon Research/Jonathan P. Caulkins, October 2014 (Is Marijuana
Safer than Alcohol? Insights from Users’ Self-Reports)

22. Potential impacts of recreational marijuana include not only increased availability, resulting in ED visits for acute intoxicating effects of marijuana use, but also effects on mental health disorders and psychiatric-related illnesses.
-- American College of Emergency Physicians/ACEP NOW, October 2014 (How Legalizing Marijuana Has Impacted Colorado)

23. Marijuana changes the structure and function of the adolescent brain.
-- Bertha Madras, Professor of Psychobiology, Harvard University, May 2014 (Marijuana and Opioids Risks for the Unborn, the Born)

24. Dramatic increase in newborns testing positive for marijuana in Colorado hospitals.
-- Parkview Medical Center, St. Mary-Corwin Medical Center, Pueblo Community Health Center, April 2016 (Recreational Retail Marijuana Endangers Health of Community & Drains Precious Health Resources)

25. Casual use of marijuana is related to major brain changes.
-- Journal of Neuroscience, April 2014 (Cannabis Use Is Quantitatively Associated with Nucleus Accumbens and Amygdala Abnormalities in Young Adult Recreational Users)

26. It needs to be emphasized that regular cannabis use, defined here as once a week, is
not safe and may result in addiction and neurocognitive damage, especially in youth.
-- Journal of Current Addiction Reports, April 2014 (Considering Cannabis: The Effects of Regular Cannabis Useon Neurocognition in Adolescents and Young Adults)

27. Exposure to cannabis in adolescence is associated with a risk for later psychotic disorder in adulthood.
-- Journal of Current Addiction Reports, June 2014 (Impact of Cannabis Use on the Development of Psychotic Disorders)

28. Marijuana is not benign and there's a mountain of scientific evidence, compiled over nearly 30 years, to prove it poses serious risks, particularly for developing brains.
-- Diane McIntosh, Professor of Psychiatry-University of British Columbia, April 2016 (You Can't Deny Marijuana Is Dangerous For Developing Minds)

28. Marijuana may actually worsen PTSD symptoms or nullify the benefits of specialized, intensive treatment. Cessation or prevention of use may be an important goal of treatment.
-- Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, September 2015 (Marijuana Use is Associated With Worse Outcomes in Symptom Severity and Violent Behavior in Patients With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder)

29. Converging epidemiological data indicate that adolescent cannabis abusers are more likely to develop psychosis and PFC-related cognitive impairments later in life.
-- Journal of Molecular Psychiatry, March 2014 (CB1 Cannabinoid Receptor Stimulation During Adolescence Impairs the Maturation of GABA Function in the Adult Rat Prefrontal Cortex)

30. Regular cannabis use in adolescence approximately doubles the risk of being diagnosed with schizophrenia or reporting psychotic symptoms in adulthood.
-- Journal of Addiction, January 2015 (What Has Research Over the Past Two Decades Revealed About the Adverse Health Effects of Recreational Cannabis Use)
 

Credit to Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy for this list. You can find out more about their organization by going to www.ardp.org

Last Thing Struggling Students Need is More Marijuana

David W. Murray

Two recent measures of educational performance, one at the national level (National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NEAP) and one among 11 regional states and the District of Columbia showed not only poor and deteriorating performance for all students, but staggering differences between white students and black students.

At the national level, the NEAP reported that 66 percent of all 8th graders were “not proficient” in reading, rising to 67 percent in math. But for black 8th graders, fully 84 percent were “not proficient” in reading, with 87 percent “not proficient” in math.

And the report on students in the District of Columbia revealed an educational disaster. In 3rd through 8th grade, only 79 percent of whites were “proficient” in English, with 70 percent so for math. For black students, proficiency in either skill fell to 17 percent.

In high school, it got worse. Only 52 percent of whites were proficient in geometry, compared to four percent of blacks. In English, only 20 percent of black students were proficient, compared to 82 percent of whites.

Importantly, the blame falls not on the expectant students. It falls squarely on the institutions—and the adults—entrusted with the task of educating them. (The District spent $17,953 per pupil, outranking all states but Alaska, in the most recent, reported year.) Teaching youth is the most fundamental operation of any culture, upon which acquisition of other capacities will depend. If they can’t read, write, or calculate, we are failing to render self-sufficient in the tools of daily life the coming generation.

We may not have the power to fix all the things that are wrong with public schools. But surely we have the power, and the responsibility, to not make things worse, particularly for those already struggling. And making things worse is just what the District, and now other places in America, are doing, by making marijuana use more normalized and widespread.

According to the latest results from the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), marijuana use doubled between the period 2001-2002 and the most recent wave offindings, the years 2012-2013. There was also a near-doubling of “marijuana-related disorders,” such that three-in-ten users now suffer problems.

But an equally troubling finding was what NESARC termed “significant increases across demographic subgroups.” In fact, “Black and Hispanic individuals showed especially notable increases in the prevalence of marijuana use and marijuana use disorders, trends consistent with other studies showing that marijuana use is now more prevalent in black than white individuals.”

These disturbing results for marijuana only add to the bad news, which most affects youth — and perhaps critically affects disadvantaged youth.

No one says that drug use is the single factor “causing” student failure; there are documented institutional and social deficiencies enough for that. But who will not face that marijuana use will most penalize those most at risk? Minority youth are both using more dope and suffering more of the consequences, and the impact hits hardest those without support.

The clear science on adolescent marijuana use and school failure isundeniable. The loss of 8 IQ points from heavy use, the measurable detriment to memory and learning, the risks of depression and psychosis for the vulnerable, the greatly increased risk of school drop-out; these are now well-established associations, and they seem to worsen as marijuana potency skyrockets, while dependency becomes“more severe.”

We can anticipate the objections from legalization advocates. Under the District’s rules, marijuana is still illegal for kids. But there is strongevidence showing that where marijuana is legalized and normalized, youth use soars, damaging learning and bringing addiction to the young.

It could also be that the “causation” is reversed; the reason that those failing in school are turning to marijuana is because they’re already failing in school. It’s possible, and may be true for some facing social disadvantage and psychological co-morbidities.

But surely that is no argument to therefore make dope wall-to-wall. One-in-every-eight high school kids in Colorado is now a current marijuana smoker. Moreover, teachers tell routinely another tale, of the high-performing youth who in a single semester changes dramatically—for the worse—and becomes a “stoner.” And then they lose them.

We should at least examine the true nature of the impact, and plan a response. We could explore programs like in-school screening for at-risk kids; if they’re starting to use drugs, it could be a chance to intervene and bring help.

Fixing this will require serious educational reform. Instead, inexplicably, the District determined to take us in the wrong direction – they legalized.

For education advocates and those of us especially concerned by the worsening failure of at-risk Americans in the classroom, it is time to recognize that the brain-altering effects of marijuana are now a dangerous and growing educational threat.