Teens are three times more prone to marijuana addiction than adults

Through Jelena Martinovic

Young people often turn to marijuana to feel better and to reduce anxiety in social situations such as hanging out with friends. But how many teens actually use marijuana?

According to 2019 CDC data, 4 in 10 high school students said they had used marijuana throughout their lives. However, some recent surveys suggest that the use of marijuana and other controlled substances among teenagers has declined. That seems to be a trend.

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After Michigan’s annual Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey showed an unprecedented year-over-year decline in 8th, 10th, and 12th graders, results from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s Colorado Healthy Kids Colorado survey showed (CDPHE) that in 2021, young people were 35% less likely to use marijuana than in previous years.

Apparently, this is all part of a broader trend that dates back to 2013. Cannabis advocates attribute this to regulated access for adults, which then minimizes the risk of teenage marijuana use. Other reports proved the same.

Numerous studies have shown that laws legalizing marijuana are not linked to increased use by high school students, quite the opposite. A recent Drug-Free America Foundation study commissioned by Johnny’s Ambassadors found that states with fewer legal restrictions on marijuana had higher teenage use and worsening mental health.

Teens three times more prone to marijuana addiction

To that end, a new study published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology found that while teens who use marijuana are three times more likely to develop a cannabis use disorder than adult users, they may not be at risk of developing other related mental health problems suffer substance use.

The study included 274 participants, 76 of whom were adolescents between the ages of 16 and 17. Participants used marijuana one to seven days a week, EurekAlert reported.

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Led by experts from UCL and King’s College London, the new study builds on another study conducted by the same team that showed adolescents were no more susceptible to links between cognitive impairment and chronic marijuana use.

“Cannabis addiction is a real problem that teenagers should be aware of as they seem to be much more susceptible to it than adults,” said lead author Dr. Will Lawn from the UCL Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit and the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London. “There are many concerns about how the developing teenage brain might be more vulnerable to the long-term effects of cannabis, but we found no evidence to support this general claim.”

This article originally appeared on Benzinga and has been republished with permission.