DENVER – The just-released 2023 results from a bi-annual survey of Colorado middle and high school students show that marijuana vaping among high school students increased while other indicators of youth marijuana use showed no change or decreased.
Recent marijuana use remained unchanged from 2021 for both middle school and high school students with 12.8% of high schoolers and 3% of middle schoolers self-reporting marijuana use in the past 30 days, according to statistical analysis of the Healthy Kids Colorado Survey provided by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
The percentage of students reporting that they recently dabbed marijuana concentrates decreased for both middle and high school students. Between 2021 and 2023, among students who reported marijuana use in the previous 30 days, the percentage of students who dabbed concentrates dropped from 49.2% to 31.2% for high school students and from 39.5% to 23.3% for middle school students.
However, among high school students who had used marijuana in the previous 30 days, the data show a big increase in vaping THC, the psychoactive chemical in marijuana. Those in this group who reported that they recently vaped marijuana increased from 39.1% to 46% from 2021 to 2023.
Rachel O’Bryan, a co-founder of One Chance to Grow Up and nationally known expert on marijuana commercialization and products that appeal to youth, said, “One Chance is pleased to see that overall 30-day youth marijuana use statistics remained stable. This shows the success of past policy changes. Back in 2021, we were instrumental in informing Colorado state legislators that loose medical marijuana regulations had created a pipeline of marijuana to our high schools. House Bill 21-1317 placed critical guardrails on the ability for high schoolers to access THC by tightening the rules for a recommendation from a provider and dramatically reducing the purchase limit for marijuana concentrates.”
O’Bryan added: “We believe that the decrease in middle and high school students dabbing marijuana concentrates is also thanks to that legislation. HB21-1317 required the state to create an educational resource on the health risks of using high-concentrate marijuana products. Public awareness has increased that these products may cause psychosis and other mental health conditions, Cannabis Hyperemesis Syndrome (frequent and severe vomiting), and cannabis use disorder (psychological and/or physical dependence), according to the resource.”
O’Bryan highlighted an area of concern in the new data. “The increase in high school marijuana vaping gets to the heart of problems that remain in the commercialized marijuana market and still threaten the health of Colorado youth. In 2015, only 21.8% of high school students who used marijuana reported that they vaped it, compared to 46% now. During those eight years, we saw an explosion in discreet, flavored marijuana vaping products, including fruity and sweet flavors. These flavors are attractive to kids and can provide extremely high amounts of concentrated THC, which harms growing brains. Dabbing and vaping are two sides of the same coin and are just different ways to consume high-concentrate marijuana. This growth area in youth consumption must be a public health priority.”
O’Bryan concluded: “While the 2023 Healthy Kids Colorado Survey results have reassured us that the work of One Chance to Grow Up has benefited Colorado children and their families, we see there is much more to do to protect kids from commercial high-concentrate marijuana.”
Contact: Rachel O’Bryan, One Chance to Grow Up
