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More people are using marijuana in Colorado, according to a new study

The new data shows Colorado is number two in the country for marijuana use.

By Thor Benson
Marijuana customers may peer through windows at the marijuana plants as they are cultivated at the 3D Cannabis Center in Denver on January 1, 2014. Colorado voters approved recreational marijuana use in 2012 with the first retail stores for recreational use opening this morning at 8 A.M.. UPI/Gary C. Caskey
Marijuana customers may peer through windows at the marijuana plants as they are cultivated at the 3D Cannabis Center in Denver on January 1, 2014. Colorado voters approved recreational marijuana use in 2012 with the first retail stores for recreational use opening this morning at 8 A.M.. UPI/Gary C. Caskey | License Photo

DENVER, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- According to a study from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, marijuana use has increased since Colorado legalized the substance in 2012.

The study found one in eight Colorado citizens over the age of 12 reported using marijuana within the past month. The new data comes from reports collected in 2012 and 2013, and no data is yet available for 2014.

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Mark Kleiman, a University of California, Los Angeles professor who studies marijuana policy, told The Denver Post the rise in medical marijuana patients in Colorado is likely a big factor in the new data. "I don't think this tells us about the long-term impacts of legalization," he said.

The percentage of citizens who reported using marijuana went from 10.4 percent during the 2011-2012 period to 12.7 percent during the 2012-2013 time period. That means over half a million Colorado citizens regularly use marijuana.

Those numbers make Colorado the number two state in the country for marijuana use, behind Rhode Island.

Previous studies have found the rise in medical marijuana patients has not increased crime, and it might even be related to a decrease in crime in the state.

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