Fran Lowry October 20, 2016
Legalizing medical marijuana may have an adverse effect on educational attainment, new research shows.
A study examining the impact of laws that legalize marijuana on educational attainment shows that states with these laws had an increase in the high-school dropout rate among 12th graders. In addition, among those who did graduate from high school, fewer went on to attend college or to graduate from college.
The study was published online October 11 in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
Direct Link “More than anything, what we have done is provided good, solid evidence that there is a direct link between marijuana policies and education,” lead author Andrew Plunk, PhD, from Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, told Medscape Medical News.
“With these policy changes, we need to be mindful about how young people might view marijuana. As it becomes approved for medical indications, are kids going to be viewing it as less risky?” Dr Plunk said.