One of the big bugbears from opponents of legalized medical and recreational marijuana was that teenagers would start smoking pot all the time. Apparently that is not happening, as teen marijuana use is at its lowest rate since 1994, even as increasing numbers of states have legalized pot to one degree or another.
Adult marijuana use is up, though, interestingly, adult alcohol consumption is down.
Teen marijuana use falls to 20-year low, defying legalization opponents’ predictions
But adult use is a different story.
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I wonder, based entirely on anecdote and observation, if this is in some part due to mental health care being more ubiquitous now than when I was a teen? My son is on a couple of different medications and is very aware of the potential for bad interactions, to the point that he plans to never even take up drinking, much less other recreational items.
I never indulged in such things when I was younger and still don't, but my wife heavily self-medicated in her teens and early 20s, only to finally get a bipolar diagnosis when she was 30. She certainly thinks that had she not been raised by people who viewed psychiatry as a load of garbage, she might not have gone that route as a kid.
The kids are stealing their parents opioid scripts instead.