ArticlePloS one
Changes in cannabis policy and prevalence of recreational cannabis use among adolescents and young adults in Europe-An interrupted time-series analysis.
Article in PloS one. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed.
- Context-dependent attention and memory outcomes resulting from combined prenatal THC and nicotine exposure following chronic stress.Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior · 2026Article
- Changes in Cigarette Smoking Prevalence After Passing a Recreational Cannabis Legalization Law Without Retail Sales: Evidence From Virginia, U.S.AJPM focus · 2026Article
- A 2025 Nationwide Cross-Sectional Survey on Public Attitudes Toward the Legalization and Depenalization of Recreational Cannabis in Poland.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2026Article
- Expected population prevalence following decriminalization of recreational use of cannabis in Sweden.Journal of cannabis research · 2026Article
- Associations between cannabis use frequency and suicidal thoughts and behaviors: A clinical longitudinal sibling study.Addictive behaviors reports · 2025Article
- The Relationships of Early Use of Marijuana With Substance Use and Violence in Adolescent Gamblers and Non-Gamblers.Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry · 2025Article
- Investigating Cannabis-Use Among Students Attending High Schools Within the Cherokee Nation Reservation 2017 and 2019.Journal of community health · 2024Article
- Opportunities, Challenges, and Scientific Progress in Hemp Crops.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Understanding Pharmacy Students' Preparedness towards Counseling over Cannabis Use Disorder.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Cannabis reduction among adolescents as spillover from successful tobacco control.The International journal on drug policy · 2024Article
- Why are the police against drug policy liberalisation?Nordisk alkohol- & narkotikatidskrift : NAT · 2023Article
- Analysis of the UK Government's 10-Year Drugs Strategy-a resource for practitioners and policymakers.Journal of public health (Oxford, England) · 2023Article
- A review of cannabis allergy in the early days of legalization.Annals of allergy, asthma & immunology : official publication of the American College of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology · 2023Review
- Exploring the Potential of Cannabinoid Nanodelivery Systems for CNS Disorders.Pharmaceutics · 2023Review
- Utilisation of QSPR ODT modelling and odour vector modelling to predict Cannabis sativa odour.PloS one · 2023Article
- Germany's evolving framework for cannabis legalization and regulation: Select comments based on science and policy experiences for public health.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2022Article
- Use of Alcohol, Cannabinoids, Psychostimulants, and Sedatives before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic among Students in 40 European Countries.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Trends and Socio-Demographic Differences of Cannabis Vaping in the USA and Canada.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Exploration of Multiverse Activities of Endocannabinoids in Biological Systems.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Association between cannabis use and physical health problems in Norwegian adolescents: a cross-sectional study from the youth survey Ungdata.BMC public health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCannabis policy varies greatly across European countries, but evidence of how such policy impacts on recreational cannabis use among young people is conflicting. This study aimed to clarify this association by investigating how changes in cannabis legislation influenced cannabis use.
methodsAvailable data on self-reports of recreational cannabis use among individuals aged 15-34 years was retrieved from EMCDDA. Information on cannabis policy changes was categorized as more lenient (decriminalisation or depenalisation) or stricter (criminalisation, penalisation). Countries that had implemented changes in cannabis legislation or had information on prevalence of use for at least eight calendar years, were eligible for inclusion. We used interrupted time-series linear models to investigate changes in country-specific trajectories of prevalence over calendar time and in relation to policy changes.
resultsData from Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom, for 1994-2017 was available for analyses. Cannabis use varied considerably over the study period and between countries. On average, use was stable or weakly increasing in countries where legislation was not changed or changed at the extremes of the study period (+0.08 percent per year [95% CI -0.01, 0.17 percent]). In contrast, the pooled average use decreased after changes in legislation, regardless of whether it had become more lenient (-0.22 [-1.21, 0.77]) or stricter (-0.44 [-0.91, 0.03]).
conclusionsOur findings do not support any considerable impact of cannabis legislation on the prevalence of recreational cannabis use among youth and young adults in Europe.
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