Join Dr. Julia Dilley, Senior Research Scientist/Epidemiologist with the Oregon Health Authority - Public Health Division and Multnomah County Health Department, Program Design and Evaluation Services for our May 2023 IAS Speaker Series event

Whether and how legalizing adult-use cannabis impacts youth is still an unsettled issue. We examined time-varying associations between exposure to local cannabis retail outlets and outcomes of cannabis use and prevention measures using data from more than 150,000 high school and middle school students in Oregon and Washington. We found multiple significant associations between “worsening” outcomes – from a prevention perspective – and increased exposure to cannabis retail outlets. We found differences by age group, and between states, potentially related to different state regulatory frameworks. Our results suggest that additional effort and resources may be needed to counter the potential consequences of adult-use cannabis legalization among youth.