“We did not find compelling evidence that the implementation of adult-use marijuana sales was associated with an immediate increase in lifetime or P30D marijuana use among middle school youth in Nevada, which aligns with previous research,” the study says.
By Ben Adlin, Marijuana Moment
New federally funded research into the impacts of marijuana legalization on youth use found no association between legal adult-use cannabis sales and the prevalence of consumption among middle-school students.

To test whether legal sales led to an uptick in youth use, authors compared middle-school use rates in Nevada and New Mexico, looking at 2017 and 2019 data from two state-run surveys. At the time, adult-use marijuana sales were legal in Nevada, while New Mexico allowed only medical marijuana.
In both states, researchers found increases in the proportions of students that had ever consumed cannabis as well as those who had consumed within the past 30 days.
In Nevada, the share of middle-school students who said they’d ever consumed cannabis rose during the study period, from 9.7 percent in 2017 to 13.3 percent in 2019. Past 30 day (P30D) use also rose, from 6.3 percent to 8.9 percent.
Recent Posts
The World is Getting Too Hot to Feed Itself
April 28, 2026
Take Action Now A new U.N. report maps how extreme heat is tearing through every layer of the global food system — and mostly overlooks the people at…
Cuba’s Fate Should Not Be in U.S. Hands
April 28, 2026
Take Action Now U.S. officials are relying on Trump’s executive order of January 29 which, without evidence, accused Cuba of being an “extraordinary…
As Opposition Grows, Oklahoma Organizers Share How They Halted an ICE Warehouse
April 27, 2026
Take Action Now Organizers also channeled mass outrage into long-haul organizing for immigration justice in Oklahoma and beyond.By Lydia…
Meet the Four Democrats Who’ll Decide If Trump Gets His Domestic Spying Law
April 27, 2026
Take Action Now “It all comes down to those four,” said an advocate, “and if they are going to continue to try to hand Trump warrantless…



