Easy access to medical marijuana among teenagers

On Saturday, the Seattle Times published two pieces about the unregulated medical marijuana system in our state and how it plays out in Seattle.  

"How I learned it's ridiculously easy to buy pot at medical marijuana dispensaries without a 'green card'" is written by a reporter who, apparently, looks young for her age.  After easily purchasing fruit-flavored strains of marijuana in two out of three medical marijuana dispensaries without showing ID or an authorization, she wonders, "Why did these guys have to make it so easy, especially if they thought I looked too young? What if I were an underage kid?"  


Prevention WINS coalition members representing schools, parents, juvenile probation, and drug counselors have been reporting how easy it is for teenagers to get medical marijuana for a few years.  This became especially true once Seattle started licensing medical marijuana dispensaries as businesses and they started popping up along north Seattle arterial roads like Lake City Way and Aurora.  One student at a north end high school was caught many times sharing and selling medical marijuana to friends that he bought from a nearby dispensary.  Five students from another high school required medical attention after eating high potency medical marijuana edibles last year.  A middle school drug counselor complained to police about students coming to school with marijuana they purchased at a medical marijuana dispensary on Rainier Avenue.  All of these reports were apparently ignored by public officials.

An accompanying editorial, "Unregulated medical-marijuana market is creating a hazy future", calls on the City of Seattle and the state legislature to do something about medical marijuana.  They state that there is "no excuse to ignore existing authority, including criminal charges against black-market dealers masquerading as dispensaries."

How do teenagers get marijuana and alcohol?

Marijuana retail stores are expected to start opening in our state next week.  As an adolescent drug use prevention coalition, Prevention WINS is interested in how youth access drugs, including marijuana.  What we know is that minors who use alcohol and marijuana mostly get the drugs from their friends.

Results from the 2012 Seattle Public Schools Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) indicate that most high school students who use marijuana get it from friends.  This is true for alcohol, as well.  Most Seattle high school students who use alcohol report getting it from a friend or at a party, according to the Washington State Healthy Youth Survey.

When marijuana stores open, it is expected that teenagers will get marijuana like they currently get alcohol: socially, including through family.  Increased access among adults who are willing to sell or give marijuana to teenagers leads to increased distribution to teenagers.  Increased parental use means more marijuana in the home for teenagers to take with or without permission.    

The YRBS results support this.  When high school marijuana users were asked if they ever used marijuana that came from of dispensary, 39% said yes and 23% were not sure, despite only 6% buying it from a dispensary.  Among those who said yes, it is likely that an adult or friend with a medical marijuana authorization provided the drug to them after purchasing it at a dispensary.  

Will marijuana stores sell to minors?  Likely not, at least as this new market gets up and running.  If the legal recreational market is to be successful, businesses need to show that they are responsible.  But adults who have easy access to marijuana, and teenagers who have medical marijuana authorizations, need to be held responsible, too, if distribution to minors is to be prevented.