Nice post.
Albeit that I may be perceived as being disingenuous by one or two here: this one of the reasons why I get a tad upset with these pro. H. activists (for example). Almost exclusively they draw on dated (like decades old) studies and research to validate their arguments. Twenty or thirty years ago we didn't have the medical knowledge and technology, nor the ability to collect and collate statistics, that we do today. This all said: even this argument is flawed given that it was banned in 1924 in the US (if memory serves me correctly). Point being that in spite of being even more behind the times: it didn't take rocket science to figure out that it was problematic. And I'm not saying the so-called war on drugs has worked i.e. evidently not (hence the current changing of attitudes and legislation). But let's not confuse one issue with another. And don't insult our intelligence nor those that have gone down this path and ended up in dire straits as a result (and the latter seemingly the rule as opposed to the exception if most posts and threads both here and on other related forums are anything to go by).
Anyway and back on topic specifically:
Don't you just love it when information this important to the harm reduction community is made available only upon payment? The link to JAMA Pediatrics in the original article doesn't work. So I found it on the link below. But don't get too excited i.e. it requires payment or a subscription to read the full text (or if you're that interested you can sign up for a 14-day free trial on some other site that will give you access to the full text).
Note that the study was
not limited to Cannabis (or so it would appear anyway based on the preamble that is indeed viewable).
This cross-sectional study examines the association of time since first substance use with substance use disorders among young people in the US.
jamanetwork.com
Here's another site that references the article and contains slightly more information:
NIH analysis measures the prevalence of nine substance use disorders after first substance use or misuse in young people.
www.nih.gov
Oddly enough: I was half-listening to a BBC Worldwide broadcast yesterday in which it was noted that during a certain developmental phase of the human brain that individuals (teens) were more susceptible or prone to addiction due to neural pathways being developed during such phase. I cannot say for sure that it was on this topic specifically (as I said: half-listening unfortunately) and couldn't find a podcast for it. But if it turns up or I find it: I'll post a link.
And yeah. One thing that has jumped out at me (not sure now from which link or document i.e. had so many open while trying to format this post) is that somewhere it's stated that Cannabis use among teens is increasing proportionately in states where it's been decriminalized or legalized (not exact wording I'm afraid but if you look hard enough you'll find to what I'm referring I'm sure). This begs a rather ominous question does it not?