FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, September 23, 2026
Contact: Violet Cavendish
[email protected]
Washington, D.C. — New data released this week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that youth cannabis use has declined significantly following the implementation of adult-use markets.
According to the CDC data, past 30-day youth cannabis use nationwide has dropped by 44% between 2011 and 2025 — a period during which roughly half the country established legal adult-use markets.
The newest CDC data, along with state-issued data on youth cannabis use, is compiled in a new report on youth use and access in the age of legalization from the Marijuana Policy Project. MPP’s full report and state-by-state data breakdowns are available here.
Of note, government data shows a significant decrease in teens’ cannabis use post-legalization in every state with regulated adult-use markets. For example, cannabis use by high school-aged teens is down by nearly 30% since legalization in Nevada, nearly 50% in Michigan, more than 50% in Massachusetts, and nearly 60% in Arizona.
"It's simple economics,” said Adam Smith, Executive Director of the Marijuana Policy Project. “As consumers transition into a legal market, illicit operators start to go out of business. And illegal dealers are the ones who sell cannabis to kids. Licensed retailers have regulators to answer to, and everything to lose. They check ID every time.”
The reduction in youth access has been confirmed by the National Institutes of Health’s Monitoring the Future Survey, which shows a greater than 30% decrease in the number of U.S. 8th and 10th graders reporting that marijuana is “easy” or “fairly easy” to obtain since states began legalizing cannabis for adults in 2012.
What’s more, the positive impact of legal markets grows over time. Washington and Colorado were the first two states to legalize adult use markets in 2012. Since then, according to the Colorado Healthy Kids Survey, high school use has dropped by 56% in the Centennial State. And the Washington State Healthy Youth Survey shows that since 2011, current cannabis use is down 62% among 8th graders, 73% among 10th graders, and 56% among high school seniors.
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Founded in 1995, the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) is the nation’s leading cannabis policy reform organization. MPP has played a central role in passing dozens of cannabis policy reforms in states across the country, including 14 successful cannabis legalization campaigns, and also works to advance federal reforms.