Missouri College Students More Open to Cannabis After Legalization
After Missouri legalized recreational cannabis, college students reported higher intentions to use and more positive attitudes toward it.
Quick Facts
What This Study Found
Following the 2022 legalization of recreational cannabis in Missouri, college students showed increased intentions to use cannabis and more favorable attitudes compared to pre-legalization baseline data.
Key Numbers
Post-legalization survey of Missouri college students; specific percentages and sample sizes in full text.
How They Did This
Cross-sectional survey of college students in Missouri assessing cannabis use intentions, attitudes, and behaviors after recreational legalization.
Why This Research Matters
Young adults on college campuses are a key population for understanding how legalization shifts cannabis use norms and behaviors.
The Bigger Picture
States that legalize recreational cannabis often see shifts in social norms, particularly among young adults. Whether attitude changes translate to increased problematic use remains an open question.
What This Study Doesn't Tell Us
Cross-sectional design at a single time point post-legalization. Single university sample limits generalizability. Self-reported intentions may not match actual behavior.
Questions This Raises
- ?Do more positive attitudes lead to increased use rates over time?
- ?How do campus policies moderate the effect of state legalization?
Trust & Context
- Key Stat:
- Higher cannabis use intentions found post-legalization among college students
- Evidence Grade:
- Single-site cross-sectional survey limits causal claims about legalization effects.
- Study Age:
- 2025 study examining post-2022 legalization effects in Missouri.
- Original Title:
- Missouri College Students' Intentions Towards Initiating or Changing Cannabis Use in a Shifting Legal Landscape.
- Published In:
- Cannabis (Albuquerque, N.M.), 8(2), 33-50 (2025)
- Authors:
- McNamara, Ian A, Parnes, Jamie E(4), Stetsiv, Khrystyna, Nance, Melissa, Sauer, Jake, Greenwood, Kayleigh, Masters, Joan P, Carpenter, Ryan W
- Database ID:
- RTHC-07106
Evidence Hierarchy
A snapshot of a population at one point in time.
What do these levels mean? →Frequently Asked Questions
Does legalization make college students more likely to use cannabis?
This study found Missouri college students reported more positive attitudes and higher intentions to use cannabis after legalization, though intentions do not always translate to behavior changes.
How quickly do attitudes shift after legalization?
The survey, conducted shortly after Missouri legalized recreational cannabis in 2022, already detected meaningful shifts in student attitudes and intentions.
Read More on RethinkTHC
Cite This Study
https://rethinkthc.com/research/RTHC-07106APA
McNamara, Ian A; Parnes, Jamie E; Stetsiv, Khrystyna; Nance, Melissa; Sauer, Jake; Greenwood, Kayleigh; Masters, Joan P; Carpenter, Ryan W. (2025). Missouri College Students' Intentions Towards Initiating or Changing Cannabis Use in a Shifting Legal Landscape.. Cannabis (Albuquerque, N.M.), 8(2), 33-50. https://doi.org/10.26828/cannabis/2025/000286
MLA
McNamara, Ian A, et al. "Missouri College Students' Intentions Towards Initiating or Changing Cannabis Use in a Shifting Legal Landscape.." Cannabis (Albuquerque, 2025. https://doi.org/10.26828/cannabis/2025/000286
RethinkTHC
RethinkTHC Research Database. "Missouri College Students' Intentions Towards Initiating or ..." RTHC-07106. Retrieved from https://rethinkthc.com/research/mcnamara-2025-missouri-college-students-intentions
Access the Original Study
Study data sourced from PubMed, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.
This study breakdown was produced by the RethinkTHC research team. We analyze and report published research findings without making health recommendations. All interpretations are based solely on the published abstract and study data.