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This is The Drug Report’s Friday Fact report - Students who are exposed to marijuana advertising on billboards are more likely to use marijuana 

According to the 2023 Monitoring the Future survey, 8th and 10th graders who reported seeing advertisements for marijuana on billboards were more likely to have used marijuana in the past year and the past month. Compared to those who never saw these marijuana billboards, those who reported seeing them more than once a day were 4 times more likely to have used marijuana in the past year and 7 times more likely to have used marijuana in the past month. 

We cross-referenced the questions that asked students how often they saw advertisements for marijuana on billboards, with the questions about whether they used marijuana. As the frequency of seeing advertisements for marijuana on billboards increased, the likelihood of using marijuana in the past year also increased: 

• Not at all (9.8% used marijuana in the past year) 

• Less than once a month (14.7% used marijuana in the past year) 

• 1–3 times per month (15.1% used marijuana in the past year) 

• 1–3 times per week (16.6% used marijuana in the past year) 

• Daily or almost daily (20.4% used marijuana in the past year) 

• More than once a day (41.6% used marijuana in the past year) 

A similar trend was observed for the measure of past-month marijuana use, which is indicative of heavier use. Only 5.1% of those who never saw advertisements for marijuana on billboards used marijuana in the past month, compared to 35.6% of those who saw them more than once a day. 

The results for the two associations between seeing advertising for marijuana on billboards and the use of marijuana in the past month and the past year were statistically significant (p < 0.01). 

These findings are consistent with those of a study from 2017 that looked at similar variables from earlier versions of the Monitoring the Future survey. This study concluded, “exposure to marijuana advertisements was significantly associated with higher odds of marijuana use among adolescents. Regulations on marijuana advertisements and educational campaigns on harmfulness of illicit marijuana use are needed.” 

Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) is an alliance of organizations and individuals dedicated to a health-first approach to marijuana policy. We are professionals working in mental health and public health. We are bipartisan. We are medical doctors, lawmakers, treatment providers, preventionists, teachers, law enforcement officers and others who seek a middle road between incarceration and legalization. Our commonsense, third-way approach to marijuana policy is based on reputable science and sound principles of public health and safety.