Legalisation didn’t lead to increased marijuana use in US: Study

Marijuana use among Americans did not see a substantial jump in states that legalised the substance, a study has found. The study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association surveyed about 830,000 Americans over age 12 on their reported cannabis use, both before and after recreational marijuana was passed in their state. Data between 2008 and 2017 also showed no increase in “cannabis use disorder” for those between the ages of 12 and 20 in states where marijuana is legal.

Washington state and Colorado, which became the first states in the US to legalise recreational marijuana in 2012, saw a slight increase in its use among Hispanic and white participants.

Recreational marijuana use for adults over 21 is legal in 18 states and the District of Columbia.

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A bill to federally legalize marijuana will be voted on by the House Judiciary Committee on September 29. The House recently voted in favor of a defense spending bill that includes an amendment to protect banks that service state-legal cannabis businesses from being penalized by federal regulators.

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Amazon, the largest employer in US, has lent support to the proposed national legislation. Citing its decision from June 2021, the e-commerce giant said it has “reinstated the employment eligibility” for former employees and applicants terminated or deferred during random or pre-employment marijuana screenings. It said screening job applicants for cannabis makes it hard for the company to expand its workforce. Amazon said it wants to help reform America’s cannabis policy as it wants to “become Earth’s Best Employer”.

Amazon’s human resources senior vice president Beth Galetti said in a blog post said an increasing number of US states were moving to “some level of cannabis legalisation.” Second, available data indicated that pre-employment marijuana testing disproportionately impacted people of colour. And third, Amazon was “always looking to hire” new employees and eliminating pre-employment testing for cannabis, and in the process, allowing the company to expand the applicant pool.