Marijuana Use Among Young People

Perception of risk and harm related to marijuana use is at an all-time low among our youth, which may in fact be the result of our ongoing dialogues around possible benefits of medical marijuana. I often have kids and older teens ask me, “How can it be bad? My best friend’s mother takes it as medicine.” You can understand how that would be confusing. In fact, for the first time in 2015, the national Monitoring the Future study reported that more high school seniors smoke marijuana every day than smoke cigarettes. It is important to let them know that during adolescence and teen years, the brain is still under development and vulnerable to many influences, including drugs. In addition, more potent, concentrated forms of marijuana like shatter, wax, dabs, and budder are increasing in popularity and may be more likely to cause negative effects in those who are still developmentally immature, given the very high levels of THC in these products. My work, and that of my colleagues in this field, is dedicated to answering many complicated questions that are designed to help policymakers make sound, fact-based decisions.