America’s $30bn legalized cannabis industry is causing an ‘explosion’ of teen users: Candy-themed products sold with minimal oversight increase risk of addiction and psychosis among kids, experts warn
- Evidence from states that legalized cannabis this past decade shows a worrying rise in under-aged users
- One study exposed a ‘potential explosion’ in adolescent use, another saw the number of cannabis-vaping teens triple over two years
- Parents told DailyMail.com of their ‘straight-A student’ kids failing at school after experimenting with pot
- Super-strong cannabis in vapes, dabs, lollipops and sodas are marketed at youngsters, critics say
- States need to regulate the $30billion trade to protect addiction-prone youth, say researchers
- Advocates say cannabis can help sufferers of chronic pain and trauma and can net millions for state coffers
- Voters in Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, and Oklahoma, will decide on their state cannabis rules in November
- Has cannabis affected your family? Write to [email protected]
Teenagers in states that have legalized cannabis use more of it and are lured by colorfully-packaged candy-like products that leave them vulnerable to higher rates of dependency, psychosis and school dropouts, researchers warn.
A DailyMail.com analysis of research focusing on California, Massachusetts, Nevada, and other states that have legalized recreational pot shows experts warning of a ‘potential explosion’ of under-aged use — and more youngsters using it than in states where it’s illegal.
They are alarmed by the weak oversight of a $30billion business and warn of a free-for-all market in which super-strength cannabis products are sold in cartoon-covered packaging that attracts youngsters, even as tobacco and alcohol firms are barred from targeting youths.
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