A new study conducted by a team of researchers at Rhode Island Hospital, led by Dr. Esther Choo, found that the legalizing medical marijuana does not increase its use among youth in Rhode Island. The findings were presented at the American Public Health Association annual meeting and exposition on Nov. 2 in San Francisco.
Choo, an emergency medicine physician with Rhode Island Hospital, said the study sought to address concerns that Rhode Island’s legalization of medical marijuana about increased accessibility and appeal of the drug to young people, who are the most vulnerable to public messages about drug use and to the adverse consequences of marijuana use.
The state’s plan to license medical marijuana dispensaries are currently on hold because of opposition from federal law enforcement officials.
The study was funded by a grant from the Rhode Island Foundation. Other researchers involved in the study with Choo include Nicholas Zaller of The Miriam Hospital Jason Mechan of Rhode Island Hospital, Dr. Kristin Rising of Boston Medical Center, and John McConnell of Oregon Health & Science University.
Providence Business News asked Choo to talk about her findings and their potential impact on public policy in Rhode Island.
PBN: The conclusions of the new research study – that legalizing medical marijuana in Rhode Island will not cause an increase of use among youth – seem to challenge some assumptions made by law enforcement and drug education officials. Do you expect push back?
CHOO: As a physician and a mother, I share in concerns about any factors that might increase adolescent drug use. But I also wish to focus our energies and resources on preventive measures that have the highest impact. I hope that the observations in this study will be reassuring to those concerned that medical marijuana might negatively impact our youth.
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PBN: Your study compared trends in adolescent marijuana use between Rhode Island and Massachusetts, using a self report called the Youth Risk Behavioral Surveillance System, from 1997 to 2009. How large was your sample and how dependable is the analysis?
CHOO: The Youth Risk Behavioral Surveillance System is a highly regarded survey of high school students developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The sample was robust, with more than 12,000 high school students from Rhode Island and more than 25,000 from Massachusetts.
The beauty of this type of analysis is that by including data from Massachusetts, which has not legalized medical marijuana, we were able to subtract out secular trends in marijuana use and isolate the impact of the policy.
The limitation of the study – and it is an important one – is that it only examines data from two time points, 2007 and 2009, since the change in legislation in 2006. So it may be that there are longer-term effects that we have not had a chance to see yet.
PBN: What kinds of further research would you like to see done in this area?
CHOO: I want to follow the trends in Rhode Island and Massachusetts over time and see what happens long-term. I also want to extend this analysis to other states around the country, which my research team is currently doing.
PBN: How do you think that your research study will change perceptions of legalizing medical marijuana in Rhode Island?
CHOO: If these findings remain consistent over time, they may alleviate fears about one potential negative effect of legalizing medical marijuana.
PBN: What role do you think research can play in developing answers to public policy questions?
CHOO: Often specific public policy questions can be framed as hypotheses and studied. Research should help policymakers base their decisions on objective data, rather than speculation.
