Cannabis Across Life: Teens

Adolescent and teenage years are essential times for learning, forming social bonds, and discovering your earliest identities. At this stage, peers heavily influence each other’s habits, activities, feelings, moods, and opinions. The distinction between teens using cannabis recreationally or medicinally is important, but it relies on complex socioeconomic factors, demographics, appropriate medical attention, and compassionate parenting.

Introducing minors to cannabis should only be done with medical supervision, requiring at least one or even two doctors’ recommendations in your state. There are many legitimate health reasons for minors to use cannabis. However, “recreational” use for teens isn’t just about having fun since there are still some deeply complicated health and social angles to consider. 

In this article, we’ll closely examine the fine line between therapeutic cannabis applications and problematic cannabis use in adolescents. If you’re a teen reading this, you’ll learn more about cannabis’ health effects and what problems you may be dealing with or run into. Learning how to live a balanced lifestyle with or without cannabis is essential for everyone.

Commonality 

Cannabis is the most widely-used, illicit drug in children and adolescents. The 2013-2023 CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey reports that in 2023, 17% of high school students used cannabis in 30 days. 

Yet, you may be surprised that this percentage is actually down from 25% over the last decade since 2013. It may be thanks to states’ decriminalization and regulation efforts to keep cannabis out of kids’ hands, but this isn’t definitively proven yet.

Compare these figures to Veriheal’s demographic data, which indicates that only 221 qualified minors were certified for medical cannabis use in 2023, accounting for less than 1% of Veriheal’s total official medical cannabis patients that year. That’s still likely an underestimation for the entire US. Regardless, all this means there’s a good chance you’re a concerned parent looking for reassurance and information. 

If you just found out your teen uses cannabis, or if you find weed, edibles, or a vape pen in their room, you may be reasonably concerned. Without rushing to judgment or anger, there are several key considerations for tactfully approaching this delicate and complicated situation.

Peer Pressure

It’s actually normal that most cannabis users are introduced to cannabis by peers relatively early on, most often in late adolescence. However, the context is critical.

Social media enables self-made content to spread faster and more efficiently than ever before, with about 77% of high school students using social media several times a day. But the developing brains of teens are particularly susceptible to its influence, misinformation, and addicting principles. Teens’ underdeveloped sense of delayed gratification is a biological contributing factor. 

Another important consideration is the increasingly reduced perception of harm from relaxed policies and peers. Seeing friends openly using cannabis online or in person influences teens more dramatically. Close friendships and relationships may be threatened or bullied if one goes against the grain of their social circle or partner.

In the same CDC survey, 25% of LGBTQ+ high school students reported currently using cannabis. This is largely a reflection of heavier stigma, bullying, and isolation of a marginalized and disproportionately bullied community causing worse mental health outcomes. Nearly 3 in 10 were bullied at school, and 2 in 10 attempted suicide.

Unfortunately, the report also says LBGTQ+ students are more likely to be victims of violence, threats, sexual trauma, bullying, and more. These create significant health disparities like increased rates of depression, anxiety, suicide attempts, and abuse of alcohol, cannabis, opioids, and other substances. Acknowledging teen cannabis use as a desperate attempt to ease anxiety, depression, or an overwhelming social situation also alleviates judgment and enhances compassion and understanding.     

Effects of Cannabis Use in Teens

Medicinal Uses

Cannabis use in adolescence isn’t all harmful. If medically supervised and dosed properly, the right dose, frequency, route, and selection of cannabinoids make a world of difference for many children and adolescents. It actually isn’t surprising then that the most commonly reported conditions in medical cannabis recommendations for minors mirror that of adults, except with a greater prevalence of cancer. 

Some of the most common diagnoses for pediatric cannabis recommendations include:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Cancer 
• Nausea and vomiting
• Chronic pain
• PTSD
• Epilepsy
• Headache
• Insomnia
• ADD and ADHD
• Crohn’s disease
• Muscle spasms

Today, about 3% of 11-15-year-olds use non-impairing CBD for similar health reasons. 

Cannabinoids like CBD, CBDV, THC, and even pharmaceutical THC forms (e.g., dronabinol) also show early, positive results on core symptoms in children and adolescents with autism. 

Keep in mind that there’s limited clinical data for medical cannabis in pediatrics. This stems mostly from practical difficulties with study recruitment, retention, stigma, institutional policies, regulations, cost, and legal barriers. 

Health Outcomes

If teens have unrestricted access to cannabis via friends or intoxicating hemp products online (i.e., delta-8, delta-10, THCP, etc.), then cannabis dependence, abuse, or cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome may become concerning. Starting cannabis before age 18 is associated with:

• Increased risk of cannabis use disorder (CUD)
• Using or abusing other substances
• Anxiety disorders
• Car accidents
• Antisocial behavior
• Early school dropout

Cannabis does not appear to cause conduct problems, but it’s more likely to be used by those who either affiliate with cannabis-using peers, or who already have conduct problems. Working closely with clinicians, therapists, and educational specialists can help you work through and overcome these challenges as a holistic, supportive, and nonjudgmental team. Without effective medications for CUD, aside from perhaps CBD, psychosocial-based interventions are first-line.

Parents often wonder about the impact cannabis has on the developing brain and any lasting effects. Currently, preliminary neuroimaging shows structural alterations in the brains of adolescent cannabis users in these regions:

• Frontoparietal
• Frontolimbic
• Frontostriatal
• Cerebellar

The significance of these changes is still unclear, meaning we don’t know what these changes translate to in the long run. Famously, cognitive impairment is the most common or even sought-after side effect of THC, but the good news is that large, aggregated studies on teens show this effect is only short-term. Cognitive effects disappear within 72 hours after use, even among the heaviest users.  

Another commonly stereotyped misconception is cannabis and laziness. 2024 data show that cannabis may do the opposite, marginally increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary behavior in young to midlife adults. 

Smoking and Vaping Concerns

Cannabis smoke shares a lot of the same carcinogens and mutagens as tobacco smoke. Avoiding cannabis smoking is recommended to prevent adverse effects like cardiovascular, airway, and physical problems. Vaping, smoking, or otherwise consuming any tobacco or nicotine products is even more addicting and unsafe, and they should never be recommended, either.

Vaping cannabis oil or dabbing concentrates may rapidly increase tolerance and dependence risk compared to flower because of the high THC potency. Individuals with a genetic predisposition to psychotic or mood disorders should avoid THC at a young age and instead use CBD under medical supervision.

Online vape products carry potentially serious quality and safety concerns because they often contain impurities and unknown byproducts, requiring independent verification (COA). Semisynthetic hemp-based products like delta-8 can be impairing and habit-forming and may have unknown short and long-term health effects. So, monitoring online and credit card activity is crucial. 

If teens use medical cannabis, non-inhalation routes like tinctures and edibles are the best, long-term options for better controlling dose, route, frequency, and predictability of effects. They are also easier to set limits with.

Bottom Line

Cannabis and CBD use in teens can be healthy, moderated, and legitimately used for myriad health issues with your doctor’s approval and adequate supervision. However, cannabis abuse in teens is often a symptom of a larger societal problem or deeper personal issue.

Teens should feel empowered and free to have open and regular conversations with adults and trusted healthcare professionals about what’s going on in their lives. 

Opening yourself up to better understand their world and vulnerability can help you develop trust and rapport for a healthy relationship with each other – and cannabis – moving forward.

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