Researchers at Colorado State University Pueblo have released a new study that says “living in a community with recreational marijuana does not appear to influence area high schoolers’ use of cannabis or their attitudes towards it.”
“Based on the 2013 and 2015 Healthy Kids Colorado Survey data,” the study states, “permitting or not permitting recreational cannabis dispensaries in a community does not appear to change student cannabis use or perceptions towards cannabis.”
Legal marijuana is helping to solve hallway and classroom conflicts in Colorado’s public schools. That’s according to Allison Horton, a teacher at Denver’s Skinner Middle School, which is among 71 schools across the state that got money last years from the Colorado Department of Education’s Bullying Prevention Grant program. The program was created in 2016 after voters approved spending marijuana tax dollars on school construction and other efforts aimed at improving school health and safety.
The Colorado Division of Criminal Justice released a baseline report on the impacts of marijuana legalization Friday. Colorado Leads is working on a summary so you don’t have to read the entire 266-page report. But if you want to, you can find it here.
“We now have that ever-critical baseline from which we can spot trends so Colorado’s leaders understand where our efforts are succeeding and identify areas where we need to focus additional research, resources or even new policy,” said Gov. John Hickenlooper.
One of the reasons Colorado has managed to avoid a rise in teen marijuana use post-legalization has to do with aggressive, realistic and age-appropriate education campaigns launched on both the state and local levels. Colorado Public Radio takes a look at one of the efforts, the “Healthy Lifestyles 101” class being offered during summer programs in Denver public schools.