A decade after legal pot shops opened, teen marijuana use is going down in Colorado
Lowest percentage of high schoolers since at least 2013 reported using cannabis, according to the latest Healthy Kids Colorado Survey
n Colorado, the first state in the country to allow legal recreational cannabis sales to adults, youth marijuana use is going down, according to newly released survey results.
Fewer than 13% of Colorado’s high schoolers last year reported using marijuana at least once in the previous 30 days. That is the lowest percentage since at least 2013 — the year before recreational pot shops opened in Colorado.
The percentage of high schoolers who reported ever using marijuana — 26.3% — is 10 percentage points below 2013 levels.
The numbers come from the latest edition of the Healthy Kids Colorado Survey, an every-other-year snapshot of the physical, mental and behavioral health of Colorado’s youth. The survey is a collaboration between the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and researchers at the Colorado School of Public Health.
This version of the survey polled more than 120,000 students across the state, making it by far the largest study tracking youth behavior in Colorado. The results have margins of error of around +/- 1 percentage point.
Read more from John Ingold at ColoradoSun.com
The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported news organization dedicated to covering the people, places and policies that matter in Colorado. Read more, sign up for free newsletters and subscribe at ColoradoSun.com.
This 4-year-old just became the youngest girl to hike and ski Highland Bowl
She set the record on Friday, March 21, accompanied by her father, Nick Springstead, a ski patroller at Aspen Highlands.
Support Local Journalism
Support Local Journalism
As a Summit Daily News reader, you make our work possible.
Summit Daily is embarking on a multiyear project to digitize its archives going back to 1989 and make them available to the public in partnership with the Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection. The full project is expected to cost about $165,000. All donations made in 2023 will go directly toward this project.
Every contribution, no matter the size, will make a difference.