DENVER – Colorado kids are not smoking more pot since the drug became legal – but their older siblings and parents certainly are, according to a long-awaited report giving the most comprehensive data yet on the effects of the state’s 2012 recreational marijuana law.
Among high school students, use went from about 23 percent in 2005 to about 20 percent in 2014. Similarly, there was no significant change in use by kids younger than 13 in recent years.
While use of the drug did not increase significantly among children, it did jump among adults.
Relying on data from the national drug use survey, Colorado reported that nearly a third of Coloradans 18 to 25 in 2014 had used pot in the last 30 days, a rise of about 5 percent from the year before recreational pot was legalized.
The survey showed a similar spike in adults older than 26. Past 30-day marijuana use went from 7.6 percent in 2012 to 12.4 percent in 2014.