
By Staff Writer
As medical marijuana becomes legal in many states throughout the U.S., some experts wonder what the impact will be on teen drug use. In an effort to find the answer, officials in Colorado are studying the effects of legalizing the drug on teen usage in the state, The White Mountain Independent reports.
Medical marijuana is now legal in a total of 15 states, including Washington, DC. In Arizona, the substance will be available by April.
Thomas Crowley, a University of Colorado psychiatry professor and director of the school's Division of Substance Dependence, said that as drugs become more available in society, more people will have problems with abuse, the news source reports.
According to officials from the Denver Health Medical Center, 83 percent of teens who report smoking pot daily said that they got the drug from a medical marijuana patient. In addition, treatment referrals have tripled since the state legalized the substance for medical purposes.
The Office of National Drug Control Policy reports that mental health problems, including depression, developmental lags, apathy, withdrawal and other psychosocial dysfunctions, are frequently linked to substance abuse among adolescents.