Marijuana is becoming more mainstream: more than 20 states have legalized it in some form, and several others are mulling relaxing their pot laws. Many public-health experts speculate that if marijuana becomes a substitute for alcohol, this shift may have a positive overall influence on the health of American adults. But many of these same experts worry that the blaze of decriminalization will harm young people, who suffer disproportionately from pot’s ill effects. Is there a way to let adults toke while keeping marijuana out of the hands of high-schoolers?

Six lovely bullets and graphs follow.  If only I COULD CUT AND PASTE THEM for you.

I always wonder why the people, advocating the most for individual freedoms and getting the government out of the decision making process, are the biggest opponents of legalization of marihuana. Does not sound like private prison business interests at all...

Nor a good cause to seize your Maserati, right?

But #6 makes sense:

So as pot prohibition ends, some drug-policy experts recommend jacking up the price of marijuana—through taxes and regulations—to nudge teens away. The Harvard Medical School neuroscientist Staci Gruber says that in addition, public-education campaigns should warn teens to delay pot smoking because their young brains are, so to speak, only “half baked.”

#2 is good to know as well:

But if you’re going to smoke pot, it’s better not to start as a teenager. Teen brains are more vulnerable to the effects of cannabis, and there’s some evidence that teen use can speed the onset of psychotic disorders among those who are predisposed to them. In addition, people who start smoking pot young are more likely to be dependent on drugs in adulthood. Compared with adults who began smoking it when they were 18 or older, those who first smoked it before the age of 15 are six times as likely to be dependent on an illicit drug.

Geege this is ironic. With marijuana illegal it's the teenagers most willing to take the risk!

Arguably they're the ones who least should be using!

It's the nature of teens to test the limits.  It's the challenge for society to protect them through this stage.

True. Teenagers are still able to get their hands on cigarettes and we know those are bad for them too.