The recent wave of medical cannabis legalization across the United States has spurred considerable research into its myriad of positive effects on society. Parenting behavior is one such aspect under investigation.
A new study by Cynthia Bansak and Jun Hyung Kim, recently published in the Journal of Applied Econometrics, provides new and convincing evidence to how access to medical cannabis reshapes the nature of the time spent by parents with their children.
The study reports that Medical Cannabis enhances the quality of parenting, but also fosters child development if parents use marijuana responsibly.
The Transformative Potential of Medical Cannabis on Parenting Time
Bansak and Kim analyzed parents’ time use derived from the American Time Use Survey, 2003–2019 and how it had shifted before and after state-level medical cannabis legalization.
The results were striking: parents in states that had medical cannabis adopted reported spending almost 5 percentage points more of their time in the evening with their children.
This increase was for both the active and passive childcare activities.
Active childcare includes direct interactions such as playing with children, helping with homework, and engaging in educational pursuits.
On the other hand, passive childcare requires the mother to be present and keep an eye on her children while engaging in other activities.
It indicated that a difference of four minutes in active childcare time, in fact, is a decrease of 12.56% in the active childcare time gap between various educated parents.
Health Benefits Enabling Better Parenting
The significant outcome of this study was that the stronger the health in parents, the more time would be spent parenting their own children.
Medical cannabis was proven to have the effect of reducing symptoms of chronic pain, sleep disorder, anxiety, or depression.
With the minimization of these health problems, parents have increased physical and mental time to fully interact with their children.
The legality of medical cannabis was associated with decreases in sedentary activities and increases in sleep, a modality many consider central to effective parenting.
With the health benefits attached to medical cannabis, a person would have more quality time spent with the children.
This finding is supported by the more general understanding that, through their good health, parents will have the capacity for effective and engaged parenting.
The results were of added significance for parents with children under six years old, when development in children is so critical.
Equating Parenting Time Educational Gaps
The impact of Medical Cannabis on parenting time was more pronounced among parents with lower levels of education.
This group usually spends less time with any childcare than their more educated counterparts.
Based on these findings, medical cannabis bridges the gap and offers a special chance of leveling the playing field in terms of time taken to be with children, something that is very important in terms of positive child development outcomes.
This increase of parenting time is not, however, limited only to weekdays but is also substantial during weekends. This overall improvement over different days in the week shows a general pervasive effect of medical cannabis on everyday family dynamics.
Gender Differences and Cultural Factors
Interestingly enough, this study showed that post–medical marijuana, men generally increased their parenting time more severely than women.
This may also be due to the aforementioned fact that men were more predisposed to upticks in cannabis use after legalization in open access states.
The research also found that state effects for medical cannabis states are stronger if they are high in conducting religious activities.
This suggests that there are cultural and societal factors behind medical cannabis and how it influences parenting behaviors.
Enhancing Parent-Child Relationships
The results of the study form more than time allocation, in which more time with children corresponded to a better parent-child relationship, characterized by improved communication ability and bonding.
This improvement in relations is developmental in children’s cognitive and social skills. Therefore, reading, playing, and other educational activities were most effective in creating a better nurturing environment for the child.
Creating a Positive Shift in Family Dynamics
The study by Cynthia Bansak and Jun Hyung Kim reveals that, bilaterally, medical cannabis legalization has positive spillover effects on parenting behaviors and child development.
By spending more time with parenting and improving the parent-children relationship, Medical Cannabis enhances the family relationship.
These three findings contribute to a larger conversation about the implications of cannabis legalization at both societal and political levels, underlining the potential role medical cannabis could play in promoting healthier and more engaged families.
As research continues to unfold, such studies underscore how important it is to consider the various and often far-reaching impacts of the legalization of medical cannabis.
The potential for medical cannabis to enhance child development through improved parenting behaviors is a testament to the multifaceted benefits of cannabis as a medical treatment.
