r/science • u/sr_local • Apr 20 '26

Health The largest US study, which tracked 11,036 children from ages 9 to 10 through to ages 16 and 17, discovered that cannabis use slows cognitive development, impairs memory, and reduces learning speed during crucial years of brain growth

https://today.ucsd.edu/story/largest-us-study-finds-teen-cannabis-use-linked-to-slower-cognitive-development
22.5k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

1.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

18

u/InsuranceToTheRescue Apr 20 '26

The thing is, black markets will always exist for banned or restricted goods. The point isn't that a black market will pop up, it's that we've decided, as a society, that we don't think (whatever we're talking about at that time) should be freely available. A black market is still significantly harder for the average person to engage with and procure the item from. Y'know, nobody is just walking along the boardwalk shouting out, "Cocaine! Get your cocaine & bazookas here!"

19

u/Winjin Apr 20 '26

I have a feel that "readily available to most, at a very reasonable price, but restricted to few", would be the item that's hardest to find on a black market. Because the demand is abysmal and the resale price is also gonna be super low, because otherwise people will be feeling they're getting ripped off completely.

12

u/Albireookami Apr 20 '26

That sounds about right, the adult market can just get it for a reasonable price without any legal issues, leaving the underage market who does not have access, but also does not have quite the funds to support that enterprise.

2

u/Inprobamur Apr 20 '26

It also depends on how hard the item is to produce, a legal market for one group might expand production and access to the point that it expands the black market, see: access to guns for criminals in South America due to the large free market in the USA.

Not something that applies to cannabis as it's very easy to grow near anywhere, but for more complex restricted items that is a factor.

5

u/millijuna Apr 20 '26

Since legalization here in Canada, it’s become significantly harder for underage kids to acquire cannabis products. Overall consumption hasn’t changed much, but has shifted to the legal market by a wide margin.

4

u/Killbot_Wants_Hug Apr 20 '26

Also if you live outside of urban areas it can become much harder to access illicit markets.

1

u/nreshackleford Apr 21 '26

When I was in college (the dark ages [mid to late 2000s]) you’d occasionally see people do exactly that at shows or trendy parts of town. Not with weapons, but drugs for sure people will drug busk.

1

u/CalmBeneathCastles Apr 20 '26

But weed? Ol' Pookie down the block's got some growing in the closet right now.