While legalization of marijuana and marijuana-products continue to grow, the consequences of such irresponsible legal change continue to unveil themselves. Cannabis is a drug that is many negative unwanted psychotropic effects. One such effect is the increased risk of depression amongst many users. Unfortunately, the adolescent brain is particularly sensitive to the negative effects of cannabis.
Researchers from Columbia University found that casual cannabis use had a strong link to behavioral problems amongst teens, including: poor academic performance, truancy, and legal troubles in a survey of almost 70,000 teens between the ages of 12 to 17 years old. In fact, cannabis is addictive and 1 out of 40 teens who use cannabis met the criteria of addiction.
They found that even nondisordered cannabis users were 2-2.5 times more likely to experience negative mental health outcomes and behavioral issues, including depression and suicidality, compared to teens who do not use cannabis at all. Signs of cannabis addiction lead to almost 5 times the risk of such mental health issues.
“Exposing developing brains to dependency forming substances appears to prime the brain for being more susceptible to developing other forms of addiction later in life,” said one of the physicians of the study, Dr. Frances Levin.
Unfortunately, it is also estimated that 1 out of 10 teenagers are considered casual cannabis users.
“We were surprised to see that cannabis use had such strong associations to adverse mental health and life outcomes for teens who did not meet the criteria for having a substance use condition,” stated Ryan Sultan, lead author of the study.
Despite what many are fooled into believing or how cannabis is marketed, cannabis is heavily linked negative mental health outcomes, more than positive ones. While many states that legalize marijuana for recreational use do not make it legal for minors to use it, there is no way of reinforcing this, as evidenced by alcohol and tobacco.
If one truly cares about mental health and the development of children, then marijuana and other cannabis substances are not the answer.
The study was published in JAMA Network Open.
R Sultan et al. Nondisordered cannabis use among US adolescents. JAMA Network Open. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.11294
