Research Paper Questions Anti-Pot Assumptions Regarding High Schools Next to Dispensaries

Another study, and another piece of "conventional wisdom" about medical pot goes down the toilet

Two studies, one by think tank RAND Corporation and another by the University of California — Los Angeles found no correlation between increased criminal activity around dispensaries. (The RAND study was retracted by pressure from the L.A. City Council and the researchers in the UCLA study, strangely, seemed unconvinced by their own findings.)

Anti-marijuana forces have taken it for granted that areas where high schools and dispensaries co-exist leads to increased teen use, with anecdotal stories of students being high on medical-grade pot.

However, a new survey found that there is no statistical evidence that dispensaries in the area leads to increased use by teens, reports medicalxpress.com.

The study, titled "Medical Marijuana Laws and Teen Marijuana Use" for Germany's Institute for the Study of Labor, is co-authored by Daniel I. Rees, a professor of economics at the University of Colorado Denver, Benjamin Hansen, assistant professor of economics at the University of Oregon and D. Mark Anderson, assistant professor of economics at Montana State University. (An abstract of the working paper can be found here.)

"This result is important given that the federal government has recently intensified its efforts to close medical marijuana dispensaries," Hansen said.

"In fact, the data often showed a negative relationship between legalization and marijuana use." Anderson added, "We are confident that marijuana use by teenagers does not increase when a state legalizes medical marijuana."

BREAKING: L.A. City Council May Vote on Dispensary Ban Friday

Degé Coutee, executive and program director for the Patient Advocacy Network, passes on an urgent notice to dispensaries and medical marijuana patients that AB 2312, which would shutter all dispensaries in Los Angeles, will likely be taken up by the Los Angeles City Council on Friday, June 22.

He urges interested parties to attend the council's regular meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday to speak when it takes two minute general public comments. If the proposed bill is placed on the agenda for Friday, public comments will not be heard.

Coutee urges patients in L.A. to contact their council members directly if they cannot attend the meetings. La Brea Collective will also be organizing speak outs during the Tuesday and Wednesday meetings.