On January 1, 2014, Colorado became the first state in the nation to sell legal recreational marijuana for adult use. As a result, Colorado has had to carefully examine potential population health and safety impacts as well as the role of public health in response to legalization. We have discussed an emerging public health framework for legalized recreational marijuana. We have outlined this f...

BACKGROUND Dabbing is an emerging method of marijuana ingestion. However, little is known about dabbing owing to limited surveillance data on dabbing. OBJECTIVE The aim of the study was to analyze Google search data to assess the scope and breadth of information seeking on dabbing. METHODS Google Trends data about dabbing and related topics (eg, electronic nicotine delivery system [ENDS], a...

The period from the 1980s to the present has witnessed a lively and unsettled debate concerning the legalization of marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and other illicit substances in the United States. Proponents of legalization argue that the demand for these harmful and potentially addictive substances is not responsive to price. Opponents argue that prices will fall tremendously in a regime charact...

Marijuana use is legal in two states and additional states are considering legalization. Approximately 18 million Americans are current marijuana users. There is currently no consensus on whether marijuana use is associated with cancer risk. Our objective is to review the epidemiologic studies on this possible association. We identified 34 epidemiologic studies on upper aerodigestive tract canc...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this commentary was to briefly summarize the literature on the relationship between adolescent marijuana use and mental health and how policy changes surrounding marijuana decriminalization and legalization might impact this relationship.  METHODS  A comprehensive literature search on adolescent marijuana use, mental health, and the impact of decriminalization and leg...

In 2000, voters in Colorado approved an amendment to the state constitution to legalize medical marijuana. In 2009, the U.S. Department of Justice indicated that patients complying with medical marijuana laws would not be a priority for prosecution. The state subsequently experienced widespread growth in in the number of individuals with a medical marijuana card and in marijuana dispensaries. I...

We use four data sets (two from law enforcement, two from user reports) to estimate that the current price gradient for marijuana in the United States is $300 $1000 per pound per thousand miles, with $450 being perhaps the best guess. We take this as a measure of the cost of smuggling marijuana through parts of the US interior where marijuana is illegal. We combine this gradient with estimates ...

Marijuana is the most common illicit drug with vocal advocates for legalization. Among other things, legalization would increase access and remove the stigma of illegal behavior. Our model of use disentangles the role of access from preferences and shows that selection into access is not random. We …nd that non-selection-corrected demand estimates are biased resulting in incorrect policy conclu...

BACKGROUND As marijuana legalization and acceptability increase in the U.S., it is important to understand the potential impact on tobacco use. Accordingly, we assessed prevalence, correlates, and ten-year trends in co-use of marijuana and tobacco among U.S. adults. METHODS Data came from 378,459 adults participating in the 2003-2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, an annual, cross-se...