A national survey on drug use and health data has concluded that youth marijuana use rates increase after a state’s passage of a law permitting medical use of marijuana, according to a recent study.

“The real issue is the potency of marijuana today,” said Cary Quashen from Action Family Counseling. “It’s powerful, strong, and emotionally addictive.”

Published in the International Journal of Drug Policy, the study of use rates in all 50 states found that the percentage of juveniles ages 12 to 17 who reported recreational marijuana use increased substantially after passage of a medical marijuana law, according to the study. The study controlled for other possible contributing factors.

“Society tends to think marijuana is natural, safe and not really a drug,” Quashen said. “Marijuana is not ok. Period.”

Medical marijuana laws legalizing the drug tend to add to the idea that marijuana is not dangerous, especially to youth, Quashen said.

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“Marijuana affects youth so much more than adults, including their reasoning ability,” Quashen said. “Youth tend to need a longer treatment for the emotional and physical addictions of marijuana.”

According to the study, states that did not pass a medical marijuana law had lower rates of youth use than states that had passed a law or that eventually would adopt one.

“Marijuana won’t kill you right away,” Quashen said, “but it could eventually, and it’s damaging our youth.”

About Action Family Counseling

Action Family Counseling has drug and alcohol residential treatment locations in Santa Clarita, Piru, and Bakersfield; Intensive Drug and Alcohol Outpatient in Santa Clarita, Simi Valley, Ventura, Pasadena, and Bakersfield, Action Family Counseling is here to help you.

Action Family Counseling’s primary goals are to maintain abstinence, stabilize co-occurring illnesses, and increase quality of life. We support and reinforce change in behavior patterns so that adolescents and adults, or clients and their families can fully indoctrinate the philosophies and principles needed to remain abstinent and stabilized for life.

Action Family Counseling accomplishes this by providing an effective treatment approach developed by the Department of Health and Human Services that includes a multi-disciplinarian personalized approach by a treatment team. Once a patient is identified, we provide an initial screening and assessment, which allows us to properly diagnose and place patients in the appropriate treatment setting.

Once a patient completes our intake process to our residential program he or she receives 24-hour crisis management, individual counseling, group therapy, family education and counseling, treatment planning, routine and random toxicology screening, pharmacotherapy and medication management, education about Alcohol and Other Drugs and mental health issues, self-help and support group orientation, case management services, and discharge service planning with a transitional service plan to our Intensive Outpatient treatment program to ensure a continuum of care.

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