Cannabis reduction among adolescents as spillover from successful tobacco control

National programs that reduce adolescent cannabis use warrant renewed attention in light of current discussions to reform cannabis legislation, including the possibility of legalization for recreational use. This study measures the size of a decrease in a country's prevalence of adolescent cannabis use that accompanies a decrease in its prevalence of adolescents who had ever smoked a cigarette.

Data are from the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD), which is a collaborative effort of more than 40 European countries to surveil adolescent substance use. This study uses data from the seven survey administrations in 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, and 2019. The main analysis is a fixed-effect regression analysis of country-level, four-year changes in adolescent lifetime cannabis use prevalence on country-level, four-year changes in adolescent lifetime cigarette use prevalence.

Decreases in the national prevalence of adolescents who had ever smoked a cigarette were accompanied by decreases half as large in national prevalence of adolescent lifetime cannabis use.

For European countries considering the legalization of adult recreational cannabis use, tobacco control can offer a tool to help counter potential increases in cannabis use among adolescents.