The following is excerpted from an online article posted by MedicalXpress
The researchers examined the extent to which two factors—having friends who use cannabis and perceiving cannabis as easy to obtain—contributed to initiation among those teens.
The results show that the two factors act in synergy: Having friends who use cannabis but not perceiving cannabis as accessible does not significantly multiply the risk, the researchers found.
On the other hand, believing that cannabis is easy to obtain, even without friends who use it, already increases the risk in a notable way. It is the combination of both that has the most pronounced effect.
Specifically, these adolescents had a 21.6-percentage-point higher risk of initiating cannabis use than youth who had no friends who used cannabis and perceived access as difficult.
The results suggest that the perception of easy access could help explain approximately 39% of the link between having friends who use cannabis and cannabis initiation, she added.
In other words, friends who use cannabis can make it subjectively more accessible in the eyes of the adolescent—whether by sharing products with them, facilitating contacts or simply normalizing the idea that cannabis is “within reach.”
Source: MedicalXpress
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-cannabis-teens-likelier.html