Pre-Post Cannabis Legalization for Adult Use: A Trend Study of Two Cohorts of Young Adult Cannabis Users in Los Angeles

ABSTRACT

Cannabis was legalized for adult use in California in 2016 for individuals 21 and older. Among 18–20-years-olds, who can possess cannabis legally as medical cannabis patients (MCP) but not as non-patient cannabis users (NPU), the impact of adult use legalization (AUL) on cannabis and other substance use is unknown. Two cohorts of 18–20-year-old cannabis users (MCP and NPU) were surveyed, one in 2014–15 (n = 172 “pre-AUL”) and another in 2019–20 (n = 139 “post-AUL”), using similar data collection methods in Los Angeles, California. Logistic and negative binomial regressions estimated cohort and MCP differences for cannabis and other drug use outcomes based on past 90-day use. In both pre- and post-AUL cohorts, MCP were more likely to self-report medical cannabis use (p < .001) while the post-AUL cohort reported greater use of edibles (p < .01), but fewer mean days of alcohol (p < .05) and cigarette (p < .01) use in multivariate models. Notably, frequency of cannabis use (days or hits per day) did not significantly differ between the pre- and post-AUL cohorts, except for greater use of edibles, despite potentially greater access to cannabis.

KEYWORDS:

• Medical Cannabis
• young adults
• trend study
• alcohol
• cigarettes

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge input from the project’s Community Advisory Board, and the following individuals who supported the development of this manuscript: Meagan Suen, Alisha Osornio, Susie Choi, Maral Shahinian, and Jim Seaberg.

Disclosure statement

No conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The study was funded by a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (2R01DA034067). This manuscript is the sole responsibility of the authors and does not reflect the views of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.