Protecting Youth from the Harms of Legal Addictive Substances

Evidence demonstrates that the legalization of an addictive substance, despite its potential merits for economic or social purposes, is counterproductive to protecting youth. Legalization emboldens industry to target young users, increases perceptions of safety, normalizes use, and increases exposure, access, and use. Protecting youth from such harms is particularly important in an era of increasing marijuana legalization. 

We published a set of evidence-based legal and regulatory provisions most effective for protecting youth in the context of marijuana legalization laws, based on reviews of the research literature and of existing state laws and regulations, as well as a survey of adults’ attitudes and perceptions regarding marijuana legalization. We created state-specific reports, highlighting alignment and gaps between each state’s provisions and those recommended in the report.  

We also published a policy and research roadmap and commentary based on these reports, as well as a journal article on the harm to youth of government investment in the marijuana industry’s commercial interests.

We have presented our findings and recommendations to a variety of audiences at various conferences and to partner organizations to increase awareness among the public and policymakers about the need to adopt a legal and regulatory framework that prioritizes protecting young people.