Minimum legal age for cannabis use should be 19, study suggests
The authors found different optimal minimum legal ages depending on the outcome of interest
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
The optimal minimum legal age for non-medical cannabis use is 19 years of age, according to a study published in BMC Public Health. Researchers investigated how Canadians who started using cannabis at several young ages differed across important outcomes (educational attainment, cigarette smoking, self-reported general and mental health) in later-life. "Our results indicate that, contrary to the Canadian federal government's recommendation of 18 and the medical community's support for 21 or 25, 19 is the optimal minimum legal age for non-medical cannabis use. Keeping the legal age below 21 may strike a balance between potential increases in underground markets and illegal use, and avoiding the adverse outcomes associated with starting to use cannabis at an earlier age."
