The legalisation of the adult-use cannabis market in Canada resulted in a significant decline in the rate of underage youths requiring hospitalisation for related incidents, according to data published in the American Journal of Public Health.
Researchers affiliated with the Universities of Ottawa and Toronto assessed nationwide rates of cannabis-related hospitalisations among those ages 15 to 44 years old in the years immediately prior to and following legalisation.
They reported that hospitalisation rates increased by 2% annually among both underage youth and adults during the three years prior to legalisation. Following legalisation, hospitalisation rates fell among underage youth, but not among adults.
“The total effect, 3.5 years after legalisation, was a 34% reduction in hospitalisations for those below relative to those above the MLA [minimum legal age]” the study’s authors concluded. “The results suggest that cannabis legalisation may… prevent such increases for at-risk young people in regions pursuing cannabis legalisation”.
Survey data from Canada and the United States have consistently failed to identify an uptick in young people’s use of cannabis following legalisation.
31 May, 2025