New Study: Stronger Local Cannabis Rules Linked to Lower Teen Use

For Immediate Release

Oakland, CA—Teens in California communities that allow cannabis stores and have weak retail rules were 22% more likely to report using cannabis in the past year than teens in communities with strong protections, according to a new study by researchers at the Public Health Institute, Kaiser Permanente and other institutions. The study also showed that where local rules were strongest, past year teen use was statistically indistinguishable from teen use in communities that ban cannabis stores outright. The study was published in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

Researchers examined cannabis use among nearly 89,000 adolescents ages 13–17 across 173 Northern California cities and counties. Compared with teens in communities that ban retail sales outright, those in communities that allowed cannabis stores but had weaker retail regulations were 28% more likely to use cannabis, even after accounting for the number of nearby stores. Teen use was likewise higher in cities and counties with weak pricing policies than in communities that prohibited storefronts. Teen use was also higher in areas with more nearby cannabis retailers. Because those stores can sit across city or county lines, the finding highlights that a community’s own rules may not be enough to reduce youth exposure. By contrast, most local marketing and product rules were not linked to lower teen use once store density was considered. The study also could not determine whether retail bans, stronger local regulations or fewer nearby stores had different effects on heavy cannabis use.

“This study provides important new evidence that local policies putting young people’s health first can make a real difference,” said Alisa Padon, Ph.D., lead author on the study and research director at Getting it Right from the Start, a program of the Public Health Institute.

The study examined several types of local policies intended to protect young people, including:

Retail regulations: 

• Limiting the number of cannabis retailers
• Keeping stores away from schools and other places young people gather
• Requiring minimum distances between stores
• Restricting on-site cannabis consumption and temporary retail events

Pricing policies:

• Taxing cannabis locally and dedicating revenue to youth services and prevention efforts

“Protecting young people requires looking beyond individual choices to the communities they live in,” said study co-author Kelly C. Young-Wolff, Ph.D., a research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research. “Our findings suggest that both the number of cannabis retailers near adolescents’ homes and the strength of local retail and pricing regulations are independently associated with teen cannabis use.”

The study used Getting it Right from the Start’s California Local Cannabis Scorecards to assess the strength of local cannabis retail regulations. Parents, community members and local officials can use the scorecards to see how their communities measure up, identify gaps in protections and advocate for stronger safeguards for young people.

Study: Padon, AA, Slama, NE, Young-Wolff, KC, Cortez, CA, Dong, H, Alexeeff, SE, et. al. Associations of Retailing, Marketing, and Pricing Policies, and Storefront Density with Adolescent Cannabis Use in Northern California. Journal of Adolescent Health, October 2026. DOI: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2026.09.012

Funding: This study was supported by a grant from the NIH National Institute on Drug Abuse (DA0531920) and by the California Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program (28IP-0035C).

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Getting it Right from the Start is a project of the Public Health Institute and works with states, cities, counties and community partners to develop evidence-based model policies and provide guidance on cannabis policies that can help reduce harms, protect against youth and problem cannabis use and advance social equity. For more information, visit: https://www.gettingitrightfromthestart.org/

The Public Health Institute is a national independent nonprofit that advances the health and wellbeing of all people and communities, particularly those facing the greatest barriers. Rooted in 60 years of public health experience, PHI moves ideas into action through practice, policy, research and community engagement, while serving as the operational backbone for more than 40 programs delivering evidence-based solutions to complex health challenges. For more information, visit www.phi.org.