Briefly Noted

Children of mothers who ever used cannabis were more likely to start using the drug earlier than children of mothers who never used it, a recent study has found. The median age of first use was 16 years in children whose mothers had used the drug, compared to 18 years in never‐users. The study suggests that maternal cannabis use is a risk factor for early use by children. For the study, researchers analyzed mother and child data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (1980–1998 waves) and Child and Young Adults (1988–2014 waves) cohorts. Analyses controlled for sociodemographic variables. The researchers noted that with legalization, adult use of cannabis may become normalized, and that there should be strategies to minimize early initiation and to delay initiation as much as possible. The earlier the use, the more severe the neuropsychiatric adverse effects, the authors wrote. The study, “Maternal Cannabis Use During a Child's Lifetime Associated with Earlier Initiation,” is published in the September issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine .