November 5, 2015 – Marijuana Problems

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Anchor lead:  What is happening in the wake of marijuana legalization? Elizabeth Tracey reports

More and more people are trying marijuana, new federal data indicate, with another study demonstrating that there are also more people having problems with its use.  Eric Strain, a drug abuse expert at Johns Hopkins, comments.

Strain: Rates of marijuana use appear to be going up.  We have this interesting situation where there’s probably some percentage of people who try marijuana who go on to develop some problematic use with marijuana, somewhere around 30% based on the data that’s come out.  And if you have more people trying marijuana then you have more people with problematic use. If we make marijuana more readily available to people and there’s some percentage of them that’s going to go on to develop problems with it, we’re going to have more people with problems with marijuana because more people are trying it now.  :32

Strain says the 30% number is probably one that’s been true for some time, just as the percentage who have trouble with alcohol remains consistent, and people should be aware of this potential before trying the drug. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.