On June 23, 2022, Christina Caron, a journalist at The New York Times, published an article about the spread of weed use in teenagers and its dangers. Inside of the article is a story of a girl, Elysse, who began vaping cannabis when she was 14, and how her eventual addiction affected her.
She described the feeling when she started, saying, “It was insane. Insane euphoria. Everything was moving slowly. I got super hungry. Everything was hilarious.” However, soon enough, she started to feel different side effects, including anxiety and sadness.
Eventually, she started to have intense vomiting episodes, one time vomiting over 20 times within two hours. After half a dozen visits to the hospital, she was diagnosed with cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, a condition that causes recurrent vomiting and is found in high-dose cannabis users.
Elysse is not the only teen affected by marijuana. National surveys found that in 2020, 35% of 12th graders and 44% of college students said they had used marijuana that year. These numbers warn of the danger of marijuana, as the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration stated that youths under 18 have a greater chance of becoming addicted to marijuana.
Surgeon General Jerome Adams commented on the consequences of THC (the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana that makes people feel high) in young kids, stating, “The risks of physical dependence, addiction, and other negative consequences increase with exposure to high concentrations of THC and the younger the age of initiation. Higher doses of THC are more likely to produce anxiety, agitation, paranoia, and psychosis.”
Laura Stack, a mother, shared her story of how she lost her son who first confessed to using marijuana at 14, saying how after using the products multiple times a day, it “made him completely delusional.” Once he turned 18, he started to sell marijuana to younger teens, and after several visits to mental hospitals, he was said to have severe THC abuse. He then took anti-psychotic medication, but unfortunately, he stopped taking it. In 2019, at the age of 19, he jumped off a six-story building.
Even worse, the potency of cannabis products is on the rise. Today, manufacturers are creating products with extremely high levels of THC, with some products going over 95% concentration of THC.
On the contrary, the concentration of CBD, which helps to relieve seizures, pain, anxiety, and inflammation has been decreasing in cannabis plants, with researchers from Mississippi discovering that the concentration of CBD from an average content of .28% in 2001 to less than .15% in 2014. This lower concentration proves to be dangerous, with scientists finding that a lower level of CBD in cannabis increases the chance of addiction.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/23/well/mind/teens-thc-cannabis.html
https://www.cnbs.org/cannabinoids/thc-tetrahydrocannabinol/
She described the feeling when she started, saying, “It was insane. Insane euphoria. Everything was moving slowly. I got super hungry. Everything was hilarious.” However, soon enough, she started to feel different side effects, including anxiety and sadness.
Eventually, she started to have intense vomiting episodes, one time vomiting over 20 times within two hours. After half a dozen visits to the hospital, she was diagnosed with cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, a condition that causes recurrent vomiting and is found in high-dose cannabis users.
Elysse is not the only teen affected by marijuana. National surveys found that in 2020, 35% of 12th graders and 44% of college students said they had used marijuana that year. These numbers warn of the danger of marijuana, as the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration stated that youths under 18 have a greater chance of becoming addicted to marijuana.
Surgeon General Jerome Adams commented on the consequences of THC (the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana that makes people feel high) in young kids, stating, “The risks of physical dependence, addiction, and other negative consequences increase with exposure to high concentrations of THC and the younger the age of initiation. Higher doses of THC are more likely to produce anxiety, agitation, paranoia, and psychosis.”
Laura Stack, a mother, shared her story of how she lost her son who first confessed to using marijuana at 14, saying how after using the products multiple times a day, it “made him completely delusional.” Once he turned 18, he started to sell marijuana to younger teens, and after several visits to mental hospitals, he was said to have severe THC abuse. He then took anti-psychotic medication, but unfortunately, he stopped taking it. In 2019, at the age of 19, he jumped off a six-story building.
Even worse, the potency of cannabis products is on the rise. Today, manufacturers are creating products with extremely high levels of THC, with some products going over 95% concentration of THC.
On the contrary, the concentration of CBD, which helps to relieve seizures, pain, anxiety, and inflammation has been decreasing in cannabis plants, with researchers from Mississippi discovering that the concentration of CBD from an average content of .28% in 2001 to less than .15% in 2014. This lower concentration proves to be dangerous, with scientists finding that a lower level of CBD in cannabis increases the chance of addiction.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/23/well/mind/teens-thc-cannabis.html
https://www.cnbs.org/cannabinoids/thc-tetrahydrocannabinol/