Parents in more permissive marijuana states see less risk for their medically vulnerable teens

While 89.9% said any marijuana use was risky for their child, 27.9% would approve if prescribed as medicine. Parents reporting decriminalization were more amenable to teen use, less concerned about impact on their child's condition, and more accepting of marijuana as medicine. Parents in legal medical or recreational states were more likely to report their child had tried or regularly used marijuana. Parents in recreational states were paradoxically less likely to agree marijuana has medical benefits for their child.

Nationally administered web-based survey of 595 parents of adolescents (ages 13-18) with type 1 diabetes, rheumatic disease, or ADHD. Multivariate ordinal logistic regression modeled effects of perceived state cannabis laws on parental views.

Parents of medically vulnerable children face unique decisions about cannabis. Understanding how legal environment shapes their risk perception can inform clinical guidance.

The finding that legal environment changes parental risk perception suggests that legalization has downstream effects on how parents manage their chronically ill children's exposure to cannabis.

Cross-sectional web survey. Parents self-reported their state's legal status (which may not be accurate). Selection bias from web-based recruitment. Three specific conditions may not represent all chronically ill teens.