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CNN Health: New PHI Research on How Cannabis Ads Are Enticing Kids to Try Weed
In CNN Health, PHI’s Dr. Alisa Padon, research director for Getting it Right from the Start, discusses how traditional and social media advertisements of cannabis are reaching youth of all ages. Dr. Padon highlights her latest study with the UCLA Center for Cannabis and Cannabinoids, where findings revealed California cannabis ads contain features that increase adolescents’ interest in cannabis use. She also lifts up findings from multiple PHI studies (2024 cannabis policy scorecards, prenatal cannabis use, among others) that indicate growing public health concerns.
- CNN Health
“A legal loophole is allowing children who access social media to see enticing advertisements for marijuana with potentially dangerous consequences, according to experts.
Under the Controlled Substances Act, it’s illegal to advertise the sale or use of marijuana using federal airwaves or across state lines. But that hasn’t stopped social media ads on cannabis websites from reaching youth of all ages who use screens, said Alisa Padon, research director for the Prevention Policy Group, a health equity and prevention association in Berkeley, California.
Businesses are allowed to make their own pages and then post ads on their feed. Youth are bypassing age restrictions and seeing the ads for products they’re not legally allowed to buy. They can like, comment and share those posts with their friends. Research shows that type of engagement is related to an increased likelihood of wanting to use and using cannabis. It’s a perfect storm, and regulators are doing nothing about it.Alisa Padon, PhD, MBE
Study Lead Author and Research Director for PHI’s Getting it Right from the Start
According to a 2024 national survey, over 7% of eighth graders, nearly 16% of 10th graders and almost 26% of 12th graders said they have used cannabis in the past 12 months. When marijuana use occurs during the teen years, it’s more likely the individual will become addicted, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Cannabis use during adolescence can interfere with memory, cognition and brain growth at a critical time in a child’s natural development, said pediatrician Dr. Megan Moreno, a professor and academic chair of the Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison.”
Click on the link below to read the full article.
Related Articles
Study: Certain pot ads raise interest of use in youth / Daily Republic
Concerns rise as marijuana advertising targets youth on social media / The Munich Eye
Originally published by CNN Health
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