Recreational Cannabis Legalization and Proximity to Cannabis Retailers as Risk Factors for Adolescents' Cannabis Use

Abstract

Within-person studies are lacking regarding how recreational cannabis legalization (RCL) and the numbers of neighborhood cannabis retailers relate to adolescents' cannabis use. Study participants were 146 offspring (55% girls; 77% White non-Latinx) of men recruited in childhood from neighborhoods with high delinquency rates. Youth were assessed for past-year cannabis and alcohol use one or more times from ages 13 to 20 years (age M[SD] = 16.4 [2.1] years across 422 observations), while they were living in Oregon or Washington from 2005 to 2019 (where cannabis retail stores opened to adults ages 21 years and older in 2014 and 2015, respectively). We calculated distances between addresses of licensed cannabis retailers and participants' homes. Multilevel models that accounted for effects of age on cannabis use did not support that the number of retail stores within 2-, 5-, 10-, or 20-mile radii of adolescents' homes increased likelihood of past-year cannabis use at the within- or between-subjects levels. Likewise, primary models did not support a greater likelihood of cannabis use among youth whose adolescence coincided more fully with the post-RCL period. A secondary model suggested that after adjusting for adolescents' concurrent alcohol use as a marker of general substance use risk, RCL was associated with cannabis use (between-subjects B [95% CI] = .35 [.05-.66], p = .024). Further research is needed with larger prospective samples, at-risk subgroups, and as cannabis markets mature.

Keywords: Adolescents; Alcohol use; Cannabis legalization; Cannabis retail; Longitudinal.

Figure 1

Proportions of the Sample at Each Assessment Year Living Within Various Distances of Any Licensed Retail Cannabis Store (Non-RCL Years of 2005–2011 Are Not Shown as There Were No Stores)