How strong is the association between cannabis legalisation (Med&Rec) and increased suicide rates in the United States?

Dr. Bobby Smyth recently supported the idea that Cannabis legalisation both medical and recreational in the US are associated with increased suicide rates for teenagers.

Post by Dr. Bobby Smyth suggesting cannabis legalisation leads to increased suicide rates in teens.

However Dr. Smyth is a staunch prohibitionist who abuses his position and title to share only information that supports his prohibitionist ideology so this claim needs to be fact checked.

To do this fact checking i’ve employed an unbiased Ai (Chat GPT4.0) to answer the question :

“How strong is the association between Cannabis legalisation in the United States and increased suicide rates?”

This is what I got back:

“To assess the strength of the association between cannabis legalization in the United States and increased suicide rates, I'll consider a few key areas:

Academic Research

Limited Conclusive Evidence: Most academic studies on this topic have not conclusively proven that cannabis legalization leads to increased suicide rates among teens.Mixed Findings: Some studies do suggest an association between cannabis use and mental health problems, which could indirectly impact suicide rates, but these are generally not focused specifically on legalization.

Confounding Factors

Economic and Social Variables: Factors like economic downturns or increased rates of depression could affect suicide rates, making it challenging to isolate the impact of cannabis legalization.

Geographical Variance: Different states have different policies and social attitudes toward cannabis, which could affect any observed associations.

Time Frame

Short-Term Data: Most states have only recently legalized cannabis, meaning long-term data on its impact on suicide rates is not yet available.Early Trends: Preliminary data in some cases suggests no significant change in teen behavior or mental health post-legalization, but this needs to be observed over a longer term.

Conclusion

The existing literature doesn't provide strong evidence to conclude that cannabis legalization is significantly correlated with increased suicide rates among teens in the United States. However, this is an evolving field of study and long-term impacts are yet to be assessed comprehensively.”