Using weed can permanently alter how teen brains work.10, 11
Smoking weed regularly can damage the hippocampus, the memory center of the brain,
impacting memory making.12, 13
Just smoking weed occasionally can change the brains of teens.14
Using weed can alter the body's stress response and increase anxiety when used in
higher doses.15,16
Using weed on the regular can decrease someone's ability to feel motivation.17
Frequent use of weed can make the CB1 receptors in your endocannabinoid system less sensitive to
THC. This means that you could build a tolerance to weed that makes you need more and more
of it over time.15, 18
Any benefit from weed regarding mental health could make symptoms return even worse when
someone stops using weed.15, 18
1Volkow, N. D., Baler, R. D., Compton, W. M., & Weiss, S. R.
(2014). Adverse health effects of marijuana use. New England Journal of Medicine, 370(23),
2219-2227.
2López-Caneda, E., Rodríguez Holguín, S., Cadaveira, F., Corral,
M., & Doallo, S. (2013). Impact of alcohol use on inhibitory control (and vice versa) during
adolescence and young adulthood: a review. Alcohol and alcoholism, 49(2), 173-181.
3 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2017). Alcohol
use and your Health. https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/alcohol-use.htm
4Paturel, A. (2012). The effects of drinking on the teenage brain.
Brain & Life. https://www.brainandlife.org/articles/how-does-alcohol-affect-the-teenage-brain/.
5Miguel-Hidalgo J. J. (2013). Brain structural and functional
changes in adolescents with psychiatric disorders. International Journal of Adolescent Medicine
and Health, 25(3), 245–256. https://doi.org/10.1515/ijamh-2013-0058
6Squeglia, L. M., Jacobus, J., & Tapert, S. F. (2014). The effect
of alcohol use on human adolescent brain structures and systems. Handbook of Clinical Neurology,
125, 501–510. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-62619-6.00028-8
7Elofson, J., Gongvatana, W., & Carey, K. B. (2013). Alcohol use
and cerebral white matter compromise in adolescence. Addictive Behaviors, 38(7), 2295–2305.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2013.03.001
8Wetherill, R. R., & Fromme, K. (2016). Alcohol-induced blackouts:
a review of recent clinical research with practical implications and recommendations for future
studies. Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, 40(5), 922-935. https://doi.org/10.1111/acer.13051
9Field, M., Wiers, R. W., Christiansen, P., Fillmore, M. T., & Verster,
J. C. (2010). Acute alcohol effects on inhibitory control and implicit cognition: implications
for loss of control over drinking. Alcoholism, Clinical & Experimental Research, 34(8), 1346–1352.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1530-0277.2010.01218.x
10Orr, C., Spechler, P., Cao, Z., Albaugh, M., Chaarani, B., Mackey,
S., D'Souza, D., Allgaier, N., Banaschewski, T., Bokde, A. L. W., Bromberg, U., Büchel, C., Burke
Quinlan, E., Conrod, P., Desrivières, S., Flor, H., Frouin, V., Gowland, P., Heinz, A., Ittermann,
B., … Garavan, H. (2019). Grey matter volume differences associated with extremely low levels of
cannabis use in adolescence. The Journal of Neuroscience, 39(10), 1817–1827.
https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3375-17.2018
11National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2020). What are marijuana's
long-term effects on the brain? https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana/what-are-marijuanas-long-term-effects-brain.
12Northwestern University. (2015, March 12). Teen cannabis users
have poor long-term memory in adulthood. ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150312082906.htm
13Wallis, C. (2017, December 1). What pot really does to the teen brain.
Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-pot-really-does-to-the-teen-brain/
14Charles, S. (2019, January 14). Even a little marijuana may change teen brain,
study finds. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/legal-pot/even-little-marijuana-may-change-teen-brain-study-finds-n958536
15Stoner, S. A. (2017). Effects of marijuana on mental health: anxiety disorders.
University of Washington, Alcohol & Drug Abuse Institute. https://adai.uw.edu/pubs/pdf/2017mjanxiety.pdf
16al'Absi, M., & Allen, A. M. (2021). Impact of acute and chronic
cannabis use on stress response regulation: challenging the belief that cannabis is an effective
method for coping. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 687106. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.687106
16Blanco-Hinojo, L., Pujo,l J., Harrison, B. J., Macià, D., Batalla, A.,
Nogué, S., Torrens, M., Farré, M., Deus, J., & Martín-Santos, R. (2017). Attenuated frontal and
sensory inputs to the basal ganglia in cannabis users. Addiction Biology, 22(4),1036–1047.
https://doi.org/10.1111/adb.12370
16Aceto, M. D., Scates, S. M., Lowe, J. A., & Martin, B. R. (1996).
Dependence on delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol: studies on precipitated and abrupt withdrawal.
The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 278(3), 1290–1295.