At the age of 14, an average teen named Elysse started her first vaping experience with cannabis. It made her feel euphoric for the time being, but the after-effects were potent. She started to feel more anxious, or sad, tempting her to inhale even more of the toxic substance.
What teenagers are inhaling is not the typical weed people used to smoke back in the 1960s through the 1990s. Many of the teenagers who vape are using oil and waxes that are about 90 percent THC. THC is the psychoactive component found in marijuana that gives users an exhilarated feeling. Moreover, THC is derived from cannabis.
Today, there are harmful effects on one’s system from smoking marijuana too often. Elysse began to experience abnormal illness where she would throw up repeatedly. Then in 2021, “after a half dozen trips to the emergency room for stomach illness, including some hospital stays, a gastroenterologist diagnosed her with cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, a condition that causes recurrent vomiting in heavy marijuana users,” writes Christina Caron, a writer for the New York Times.
Experts say that, today, high-THC cannabis products are vastly different from the joints people smoked many years ago. Present-day products have been poisoning heavily-addicted users, including teenagers. Users may undergo uncontrollable vomiting and addiction, and they may experience psychosis that may lead to long-term psychiatric disorders, a higher probability of developing depression and suicidal ideation, as well as changes in the user’s brain anatomy and connectivity and poor memory.
A national survey was conducted, and the results showed that the usage of marijuana amongst 8th, 10th, and 12th graders has decreased in 2021, partly because of the pandemic. “However, over the two-year interval from 2017 to 2019, the number of kids who reported vaping marijuana over the last 30 days rose among all grades, nearly tripling among high school seniors. In 2020, 35 percent of seniors, and as many as 44 percent of college students, reported using marijuana in the past year,” said Christina Caron.
In addition, Dr. Sharon Levy, the director of the Adolescent Substance Use and Addiction Program at Boston Children’s Hospital, said, “There is no doubt that higher concentration products are increasing the number of people who have bad experiences with cannabis.” From her experience when she opened up her clinic in 2000, a small number of kids came in with psychotic symptoms “and we almost never saw cannabis hyperemesis syndrome.” But as times changed, “the numbers are shooting up,” Dr. Levy said. “Psychotic symptoms while high can include hallucinations, trouble distinguishing between fantasy and reality, strange behaviors (one young man would spend his days tying plastic bags into knots) or voices talking to them in their head.”
The best possible solution to keep teens away from high-THC marijuana is by “implementing laws that allow the cannabis industry to replace illegal markets, which do not adhere to age restrictions, state-mandated testing or labeling guidelines,” Bethany Moore, a spokeswoman for the National Cannabis Industry Association, said in a statement.
Sources:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1656024127832x215987300925151170/Teens%20Are%20Getting%20Sick%20From%20Products%20With%20High%20THC%20Levels%20-%20The%20New%20York%20Times.pdf
What teenagers are inhaling is not the typical weed people used to smoke back in the 1960s through the 1990s. Many of the teenagers who vape are using oil and waxes that are about 90 percent THC. THC is the psychoactive component found in marijuana that gives users an exhilarated feeling. Moreover, THC is derived from cannabis.
Today, there are harmful effects on one’s system from smoking marijuana too often. Elysse began to experience abnormal illness where she would throw up repeatedly. Then in 2021, “after a half dozen trips to the emergency room for stomach illness, including some hospital stays, a gastroenterologist diagnosed her with cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, a condition that causes recurrent vomiting in heavy marijuana users,” writes Christina Caron, a writer for the New York Times.
Experts say that, today, high-THC cannabis products are vastly different from the joints people smoked many years ago. Present-day products have been poisoning heavily-addicted users, including teenagers. Users may undergo uncontrollable vomiting and addiction, and they may experience psychosis that may lead to long-term psychiatric disorders, a higher probability of developing depression and suicidal ideation, as well as changes in the user’s brain anatomy and connectivity and poor memory.
A national survey was conducted, and the results showed that the usage of marijuana amongst 8th, 10th, and 12th graders has decreased in 2021, partly because of the pandemic. “However, over the two-year interval from 2017 to 2019, the number of kids who reported vaping marijuana over the last 30 days rose among all grades, nearly tripling among high school seniors. In 2020, 35 percent of seniors, and as many as 44 percent of college students, reported using marijuana in the past year,” said Christina Caron.
In addition, Dr. Sharon Levy, the director of the Adolescent Substance Use and Addiction Program at Boston Children’s Hospital, said, “There is no doubt that higher concentration products are increasing the number of people who have bad experiences with cannabis.” From her experience when she opened up her clinic in 2000, a small number of kids came in with psychotic symptoms “and we almost never saw cannabis hyperemesis syndrome.” But as times changed, “the numbers are shooting up,” Dr. Levy said. “Psychotic symptoms while high can include hallucinations, trouble distinguishing between fantasy and reality, strange behaviors (one young man would spend his days tying plastic bags into knots) or voices talking to them in their head.”
The best possible solution to keep teens away from high-THC marijuana is by “implementing laws that allow the cannabis industry to replace illegal markets, which do not adhere to age restrictions, state-mandated testing or labeling guidelines,” Bethany Moore, a spokeswoman for the National Cannabis Industry Association, said in a statement.
Sources:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1656024127832x215987300925151170/Teens%20Are%20Getting%20Sick%20From%20Products%20With%20High%20THC%20Levels%20-%20The%20New%20York%20Times.pdf
