Written by Kranti Kaur

As the rates of depression and anxiety have risen over the past few years, there has been a rise in cannabis usage, especially among teenagers. Because cannabis use has become more legalized across the US, the message that most families and teens are getting is that cannabis is a safe drug to use. Parents who may have used it in their youth are not quite disturbed by their children using it because it is a “relatively safe drug” compared to others. Many teenagers and adults believe this false statement that marijuana is “safe” but do not know about the changes that have occurred since the late 1900s to present day.

There has been an increase in THC potency in cannabis products from about 4% in 1995 to 20% or more now because of selective breeding for higher THC content in marijuana plants. This increased potency means that there is greater danger associated with marijuana use. Neuroscientist Yasmin Hurd even goes so far to say that there should be a new name for concentrated cannabis products.

The rise in use of cannabinoid products is mostly due to teenagers wanting to self-medicate for depression, and anxiety. The irony is that cannabis use in teenagers has been associated with increased prevalence of a major depressive episode and suicidal ideation. This fact should not be so surprising, but the fact that it is goes to show that the general population is not educated enough about the effects that drugs, specifically marijuana, can have on mental health. Additionally, users of cannabis who start using at a young age are much more likely to develop a dependence on it, use other drugs, attempt suicide, and drop out of high school than non-users. Further, there is a greater risk of developing psychosis, a symptom of schizophrenia, which is a mental illness characterized by hallucinations and delusions, among marijuana users. Higher potency increases the chance of developing psychosis.

With the rise of cannabis use, emergency rooms across the country are experiencing a larger group of patients with cannabis hyperemesis syndrome, characterized by excessive nausea and vomiting, which results from cannabis use. Aside from this deeply unpleasant syndrome that occurs, there is also evidence that cannabis use can lead to long term changes in memory, pain, motivation, learning, and more via decreasing the amount of CB1 receptors in the brain. These effects are especially relevant for teenagers, since it is during this time that the brain undergoes a “makeover” of sorts to consolidate neural connections and remove those that are unnecessary. Anything that disrupts this process can have a permanent impact as the brain consolidates these disruptions into the brain. There has even been evidence that teens who use THC containing substances have thinner prefrontal cortexes; the effects are not as benign as we may have believed previously.   

What does all of this information tell us? It tells us that we as a society need to do a better job of educating ourselves and our children about drugs. It is important to keep a close eye on the mental health of children, especially since self-medication is the most obvious alternative to receiving psychological help and prescribed medication. Additionally, it is important to realize that just because something is legal does not mean it is completely safe: novel research needs to be conducted about the effects that cannabis, especially with the increased potency observed today, has on teenagers and adults.