Cannabis decriminalization: A study of recent policy change in five U.S. states

By Richard A. Grucza, Mike Vuolo, Melissa J. Krauss, Andrew D. Plunk, Arpana Agrawal, Frank J. Chaloupka, Laura J. Bieru

A number of public health professional organizations support the decriminalization of cannabis due to adverse effects of cannabis-related arrests and legal consequences, particularly on youth. We sought to examine the associations between cannabis decriminalization and both arrests and youth cannabis use in five states that passed decriminalization measures between the years 2008 and 2014: Massachusetts (decriminalized in 2008), Connecticut (2011), Rhode Island (2013), Vermont (2013), and Maryland (2014).

The results showed that marijuana use and arrests in the five states that have decriminalised marijuana have not shown a corresponding rise in drug use amongst young people.