FACTS

Alcohol

  • Drinking during adolescence and youth can alter impulse control and lower inhibitions.1, 2
  • Underage drinking increases the risk of memory problems.3
  • Using alcohol as a teen can permanently damage your brain4, 5, 6
  • Alcohol affects the cerebral cortex, the part of the brain responsible for your process of thinking and self-control. 4,6
  • Heavy drinking as a teen can lead to less gray matter in the brain, including the hippocampus and amygdala. 7
  • Weed

  • Weed and alcohol can make it more difficult to remember.1, 3, 8
  • Using weed can impact learning and school performance1, 9
  • Using weed can impact memory.1
  • 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
REFERENCES

  • 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.