Teens who see lots of billboard ads for weed are SIX TIMES more likely to get hooked on the drug

Teens who see lots of cannabis adverts on billboards and storefronts are bigger users of the drug and six times more likely to be hooked, says the latest study to warn against the normalization of pot.

A University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study warns of the ‘special risk’ young people face from cannabis, and urges states that allow recreational pot to exercise ‘caution’ with advertising rules.

The warning is gaining traction as voters in Maryland, Arkansas, and three other states gear up to decide in next month’s midterm elections whether to allow recreational weed for residents aged over 21.

Experts caution against America’s speedy switch to legalizing cannabis, particularly for young people, and DailyMail.com has spoken with many parents who watched their children lose their minds — and even their lives — due to pot.

A man opens the door of the Weed World Store in New York City. Youths who regularly see billboard and storefront ads for pot are seven times more likely to use the drug, researchers say 

‘Legalization may alter the ways that youth use cannabis.’ says the study, led by Pamela Trangenstein, an expert on substance abuse.

‘Our study extends these findings by suggesting that marketing … could contribute to these changes.’

Researchers surveyed 172 teenagers aged 15-19 living in California, Colorado, Washington, and other states that had legalized recreational cannabis use. Each had used the drug at least once.

Adolescents who regularly saw cannabis adverts on billboards or storefronts were seven times more likely to use pot frequently, they found, and were six times more likely to suffer from cannabis use disorder.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this refers to a user who cannot quit, craves the drug, or uses so much that they start having problems at school or home or with friends.

Unexpectedly, teens who saw cannabis ads occasionally on Instagram were less likely to use pot frequently — although it was not entirely clear why this was so, and researchers called for further inquiry.

‘Ad exposure may facilitate progression toward problematic use,’ said the study.

‘States and other localities with legalized cannabis should exercise special caution regarding forms of marketing that promote brand identification and engagement with youth.’

The study was published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs last year, but has gained attention in recent days, as cannabis looks set to become legally available to millions more Americans within months.

Voters in Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota will in November decide whether to legalize weed for residents age 21 or older, changing the rules in states with a combined population of nearly 16 million. 

They would join the 19 states and territories that already permit recreational pot, and leave about half of the U.S. population living in areas where the possession and use of pot are legal for adults. 

A total of 38 states permit marijuana for medical use. 

In the coming years, voters in Oklahoma, Wyoming, Florida, Nebraska, and Ohio will also hold ballot measures on legalizing pot. 

The Weed World Candies truck in New York City, which has legalized recreational cannabis but not yet licensed dispensaries. Critics worry about billboards and storefront advertising swaying impressionable young users 

Teenagers are lured by colorfully-packaged candy-like products that leave them vulnerable to higher rates of dependency, psychosis and school dropouts, researchers warn. Pictured: child-friendly cannabis gummy packaging

Support for legalization in Maryland is particularly high, according to a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll released this month — 73 percent are in favor of letting over-21s get high. 

Dr Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, told DailyMail.com that young people using cannabis was a ‘concern’ 

Research firm BDSA projects legal cannabis sales to hit $30 billion this year, and $47.6 billion by 2026, surpassing the craft beer industry and sending windfall tax revenues into the coffers of permissive states.

Experts say legalizing pot has led to it gaining acceptance in recent years, leading more people to try it. Stress from the Covid-19 pandemic has also driven up the number of users.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse’s (NIDA) annual survey in August found the number of under-30s using marijuana hit record levels last year — which the agency’s boss Dr Nora Volkow called a ‘concern’.

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Experts describe a ‘potential explosion’ of underage cannabis use and raised the alarm over the weak oversight of the pot industry.

Kevin Sabet, a former White House drug advisor, noted how early legalizers of cannabis like Washington and Colorado had seen first hand the dangers of super-strength pot and a ‘backlash has begun’ to restrict sales. 

Those seeking to loosen the laws around cannabis had for years protested for pot — including at this rally at the White House in 2016 — before Biden decided to pardon federal offenders 

Marijuana dispensary manager LeRoy Roybal of Santa Fe, New Mexico, preparing for the opening of the state’s regulated pot market in April

‘What people know about marijuana is often rooted in pop culture, not science,’ Sabet, president of the campaign group Smart Approaches to Marijuana, told DailyMail.com.  

‘The evidence on marijuana is clear: it is not a risk-free drug, and it can have lasting physical and mental effects and these effects are amplified in frequent users and users of high-potency products.’

The average cannabis joint is 4-5 times stronger than it was 50 years ago, with 20-25 percent THC potency, said Sabet. Concentrates and edibles nowadays can be 100 percent potent, he added. 

‘Today’s marijuana has been engineered to be more addicting and is now being pushed by addiction-for-profit companies like Altria and Imperial Tobacco,’ added Sabet. 

‘States that legalize marijuana see increases in youth use, more deaths from marijuana-impaired drivers, increased rates of violent crime, and more incidents of accidental ingestion by children.’

The $30billion cannabis industry argues that taking the drug — either smoking it, vaping it or as an edible — can help relieve feelings of anxiety or depression, chronic pain, and even help fight addictions.

The U.S. Cannabis Council, a major lobbying group, said legalization was widely supported, that pot was safe and could help addicts beat opioid and alcohol dependency. 

But in states where pot has been legalized, many parents say their children have been sucked into an addiction spiral.

They also raised concerns over a free-for-all market in which super-strength cannabis products are sold in cartoon-covered packaging.

Mary Maas, 57, from Washington, which legalized weed in 2012, told DailyMail.com how her son Adam, 26, spiraled into a devastating addiction to super-strength pot products worlds apart from the ‘Woodstock weed’ she recalls from the 1960s.

Now, she looks at the potent oils, vapes, dabs, drinks and gummies sold at a growing number of dispensaries, as well as the down-and-outs living in tents under Seattle’s I-5 highway, and urges other states to heed Washington’s lessons.

‘They’d better watch out,’ she said.

Adam Maas, 26, with his family in Washington. Mom Mary, 57, describes her ‘straight-A student’ getting hooked on super-strength cannabis products and ending up delusional, jobless and sleeping rough in Seattle 

America’s $30 billion legalized cannabis industry is causing an ‘explosion’ of teen users

Teenagers in states that have legalized cannabis use more of it and are lured by colorfully-packaged candy-like products that leave them vulnerable to higher rates of dependency, psychosis and school dropouts, researchers warn.

A DailyMail.com analysis of research focusing on California, Massachusetts, Nevada, and other states that have legalized recreational pot shows experts warning of a ‘potential explosion’ of under-aged use — and more youngsters using it than in states where it’s illegal.

Renee Goodwin, a psychiatric and substance use epidemiologist who leads Columbia University’s research, says teen cannabis use grows faster after legalization  

They are alarmed by the weak oversight of a $30 billion business and warn of a free-for-all market in which super-strength cannabis products are sold in cartoon-covered packaging that attracts youngsters, even as tobacco and alcohol firms are barred from targeting youths.

Data from the 19 states that have permitted recreational pot this past decade, as well as the 38 states that allow medical use, indicates that teens and young adults there are using stronger products more often.

Not every teen who eats a pot gummy sees their life unravel. But they are more prone to addiction and dependency than adults, and greater availability and use means more cases of anxiety, depression, psychosis and even suicide.

In November, voters in Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, North and South Dakota will decide on whether to liberalize their own cannabis laws — and let windfall pot industry taxes flow into state coffers.

‘Cannabis use is more common among youth and adults in states where cannabis use is legal for recreational use,’ Renee Goodwin, who leads Columbia University’s research, told DailyMail.com.

‘Legalization has moved from a social justice issue, to the other extreme of big business commercialization without any of the same restrictions that tobacco and alcohol now need to follow.’