Marijuana legalization and historical trends in marijuana use among US residents aged 12–25: results from the 1979–2016 National Survey on drug use and health
Abstract Background Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States. More and more states legalized medical and recreational marijuana use. Adolescents and emerging adults are at high risk for marijuana use. This ecological study aims to examine historical trends in marijuana u...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
BMC
2020-02-01
|
| Series: | BMC Public Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-8253-4 |
| _version_ | 1818661772099321856 |
|---|---|
| author | Bin Yu Xinguang Chen Xiangfan Chen Hong Yan |
| author_facet | Bin Yu Xinguang Chen Xiangfan Chen Hong Yan |
| author_sort | Bin Yu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States. More and more states legalized medical and recreational marijuana use. Adolescents and emerging adults are at high risk for marijuana use. This ecological study aims to examine historical trends in marijuana use among youth along with marijuana legalization. Method Data (n = 749,152) were from the 31-wave National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 1979–2016. Current marijuana use, if use marijuana in the past 30 days, was used as outcome variable. Age was measured as the chronological age self-reported by the participants, period was the year when the survey was conducted, and cohort was estimated as period subtracted age. Rate of current marijuana use was decomposed into independent age, period and cohort effects using the hierarchical age-period-cohort (HAPC) model. Results After controlling for age, cohort and other covariates, the estimated period effect indicated declines in marijuana use in 1979–1992 and 2001–2006, and increases in 1992–2001 and 2006–2016. The period effect was positively and significantly associated with the proportion of people covered by Medical Marijuana Laws (MML) (correlation coefficients: 0.89 for total sample, 0.81 for males and 0.93 for females, all three p values < 0.01), but was not significantly associated with the Recreational Marijuana Laws (RML). The estimated cohort effect showed a historical decline in marijuana use in those who were born in 1954–1972, a sudden increase in 1972–1984, followed by a decline in 1984–2003. Conclusion The model derived trends in marijuana use were coincident with the laws and regulations on marijuana and other drugs in the United States since the 1950s. With more states legalizing marijuana use in the United States, emphasizing responsible use would be essential to protect youth from using marijuana. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T04:50:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c30b3a03f2a34d60868b9c2e2727917c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1471-2458 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T04:50:22Z |
| publishDate | 2020-02-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-c30b3a03f2a34d60868b9c2e2727917c2022-12-21T22:02:55ZengBMCBMC Public Health1471-24582020-02-0120111010.1186/s12889-020-8253-4Marijuana legalization and historical trends in marijuana use among US residents aged 12–25: results from the 1979–2016 National Survey on drug use and healthBin Yu0Xinguang Chen1Xiangfan Chen2Hong Yan3Department of Epidemiology, University of FloridaDepartment of Epidemiology, University of FloridaDepartment of Epidemiology and Health Statistics School of Health Sciences, Wuhan UniversityDepartment of Epidemiology and Health Statistics School of Health Sciences, Wuhan UniversityAbstract Background Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States. More and more states legalized medical and recreational marijuana use. Adolescents and emerging adults are at high risk for marijuana use. This ecological study aims to examine historical trends in marijuana use among youth along with marijuana legalization. Method Data (n = 749,152) were from the 31-wave National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 1979–2016. Current marijuana use, if use marijuana in the past 30 days, was used as outcome variable. Age was measured as the chronological age self-reported by the participants, period was the year when the survey was conducted, and cohort was estimated as period subtracted age. Rate of current marijuana use was decomposed into independent age, period and cohort effects using the hierarchical age-period-cohort (HAPC) model. Results After controlling for age, cohort and other covariates, the estimated period effect indicated declines in marijuana use in 1979–1992 and 2001–2006, and increases in 1992–2001 and 2006–2016. The period effect was positively and significantly associated with the proportion of people covered by Medical Marijuana Laws (MML) (correlation coefficients: 0.89 for total sample, 0.81 for males and 0.93 for females, all three p values < 0.01), but was not significantly associated with the Recreational Marijuana Laws (RML). The estimated cohort effect showed a historical decline in marijuana use in those who were born in 1954–1972, a sudden increase in 1972–1984, followed by a decline in 1984–2003. Conclusion The model derived trends in marijuana use were coincident with the laws and regulations on marijuana and other drugs in the United States since the 1950s. With more states legalizing marijuana use in the United States, emphasizing responsible use would be essential to protect youth from using marijuana.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-8253-4MarijuanaAdolescents and young adultsHAPC modelUnited States |
| spellingShingle | Bin Yu Xinguang Chen Xiangfan Chen Hong Yan Marijuana legalization and historical trends in marijuana use among US residents aged 12–25: results from the 1979–2016 National Survey on drug use and health BMC Public Health Marijuana Adolescents and young adults HAPC model United States |
| title | Marijuana legalization and historical trends in marijuana use among US residents aged 12–25: results from the 1979–2016 National Survey on drug use and health |
| title_full | Marijuana legalization and historical trends in marijuana use among US residents aged 12–25: results from the 1979–2016 National Survey on drug use and health |
| title_fullStr | Marijuana legalization and historical trends in marijuana use among US residents aged 12–25: results from the 1979–2016 National Survey on drug use and health |
| title_full_unstemmed | Marijuana legalization and historical trends in marijuana use among US residents aged 12–25: results from the 1979–2016 National Survey on drug use and health |
| title_short | Marijuana legalization and historical trends in marijuana use among US residents aged 12–25: results from the 1979–2016 National Survey on drug use and health |
| title_sort | marijuana legalization and historical trends in marijuana use among us residents aged 12 25 results from the 1979 2016 national survey on drug use and health |
| topic | Marijuana Adolescents and young adults HAPC model United States |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-8253-4 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT binyu marijuanalegalizationandhistoricaltrendsinmarijuanauseamongusresidentsaged1225resultsfromthe19792016nationalsurveyondruguseandhealth AT xinguangchen marijuanalegalizationandhistoricaltrendsinmarijuanauseamongusresidentsaged1225resultsfromthe19792016nationalsurveyondruguseandhealth AT xiangfanchen marijuanalegalizationandhistoricaltrendsinmarijuanauseamongusresidentsaged1225resultsfromthe19792016nationalsurveyondruguseandhealth AT hongyan marijuanalegalizationandhistoricaltrendsinmarijuanauseamongusresidentsaged1225resultsfromthe19792016nationalsurveyondruguseandhealth |