Study: Adolescents more likely to use problematic cannabis than adults

Researchers from National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), housed within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have published the results of a study looking at the age of first consumption of cannabis and the development of a cannabis use disorder. Their findings suggest that younger people are more vulnerable to abuse and problematic use.

According to the study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, the researchers examined data from participants in the 2015 to 2018 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Specifically, they examined two age groups: adolescents (12-17) and young adults (18-25).

They found that a higher percentage of adolescents developed a cannabis use disorder than young adults. Also, after a first use of cannabis, adolescents developed a cannabis use disorder more quickly. 12 months after the first use, 10.7 % of 12-17 year-olds reported a cannabis use disorder, compared with 6.4 % of 18-25 year-olds.

«You get the same percentage of cannabis use disorder in one year for youth as you do in three years for a young adult,» a declared Nora Volkow, Director of NIDA. «After three years, 20% of adolescents aged 12 to 17, or one in five, will have a cannabis-related disorder. And that's essentially double the number who will end up with a cannabis use disorder in young adults.»

Adolescents are generally more vulnerable to substance use disorders due to biological factors. However, the study found no faster development of substance use disorders in adolescents than in young adults with regard to alcohol and tobacco.

According to Nora Volkow, this is not what she had anticipated. The results may therefore be linked to «the likelihood of them having access to this drug», she said, referring to cannabis.

«This has less to do with the pharmacological differences between nicotine and cannabis and more to do with teenagers» attitudes and access to these drugs,« Nora Volkow continued, adding that, alongside the »dramatic liberalization of access to cannabis« over the past decade, »the perception of risk associated with cannabis use has decreased considerably«, while »teenagers' perception that tobacco is an unhealthy behavior has actually remained high".

The study also raises the question of whether robust regulation, combined with prevention and education campaigns, could reduce youth consumption under legalization, in the same way as Nora Volkow suggests for tobacco.

«I don't see why we can't do it the way we've done it for tobacco. There's nothing that says it's intrinsically impossible for this drug rather than the other. No, the problem is implementation,» said Nora Volkow. «We have to be careful, we have to run a very aggressive prevention campaign to prevent teenagers from being exposed to cannabis: What should we do? How do we regulate, test and evaluate?»

In Canada, cannabis use among 15-17 year-olds has fallen by 47% since legalization.