Post: Cannabis Is Harming Our Youth

Key points

High THC content increases the risk of addiction and psychosis in youths.

The cannabis industry largely follows the playbook of Big Tobacco and E-cigarettes.

Cannabis is not FDA-approved for any medical conditions despite being touted as a medical remedy.

Adolescents and young adults are experiencing cannabis-induced mental health crises, including serious disruptions in their ability to function at school or work—and, in some cases, psychotic breaks leading to hospitalizations, at alarming rates. One major reason for this rise is the markedly higher potency of today’s available cannabis compared to the strains in the 1960s and 70s. According to Dr. Deepak Cyril D’Souza, Professor of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine and a leading expert in cannabis, “The marijuana and cannabis products that your grandparents may have used are very different from what’s out there now” (Backman, 2023).

Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the psychoactive compound in cannabis that is responsible for the drug’s highly addictive potential. THC levels have skyrocketed from below 2 percent in the 1980s to between 17 percent and 28 percent in 2017, with some products containing up to 90 percent THC (Stuyt, 2018; Backman, 2023). Scope of Use

Over the past decade, cannabis use in adolescents and young adults has surged. Globally, it is the most widely used illicit drug, with a staggering 183 million estimated users (Wilson et al., 2018). In the U.S., in 2022, about 30 percent of high school seniors reported using cannabis in the past year, and one-fifth of them reported daily cannabis use within the past 30 days (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2024). Cannabis vaping has also become more common, with an estimated 6 percent of 8th graders and 15 percent of 10th graders reporting use in the past year(CDC, 2024). Among adults aged 19 to 30, about 42 percent reported cannabis use in the past year, and 10 percent reported using it 20 or more times in the past 30 days (National Institute on Drug Abuse [NIDA], 2024).

These statistics are surprising, given the extensive evidence of cannabis’ harmful effects on the developing brain (Volkow et al., 2016). […]

Cannabis Is Harming Our Youth