Cannabis Safety - Cann We Chat?

78.5% of youth in Missoula County DON’T use marijuana on a regular basis.

The 2022 Montana Prevention Needs Assessment (PNA) for Missoula County shows that 78.5% of Missoula County students in grades 8, 10, and 12 report that they did NOT use marijuana in the past 30-days. However, this means that Missoula youth use is higher than the state’s data by 4.7%. For more information on this survey, check out the Montana PNA survey results here.

Marijuana use affects attention span, learning, memory, and problem solving abilities, particularly for youth.

Youth are particularly at risk for this – recent longitudinal studies have indicated that youth who begin using marijuana at a young age are at a higher risk of these deficits because their brain is still developing. Learn more about the risks of marijuana on the brain from this video. 

Source: Cannabis (Marijuana) DrugFacts (NIDA) doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2015.07.029

Students who start using cannabis early are 2x more likely to drop out of high school than those who don’t use cannabis.

Cannabis use has been shown to interfere with learning by impairing memory, attention, or other cognitive functioning – all of which can translate into poor schooling outcomes. Underage cannabis use also shares many risk factors with other risky health behaviors. Risk factors include antisocial behaviors (such as rebelliousness), family conflict, depressive symptoms, low neighborhood attachment, etc.

_{Source: Marijuana use and high school dropout: the influence of unobservables}

_{Illicit drug use and educational attainment}

_{The relationship between marijuana initiation and dropping out of high school}

_{NIH Marijuana Use Info (PDF)}

20-30% higher odds of a Motor Vehicle Crash while driving under the influence of Marijuana. 

Research studies have shown negative effects of marijuana on drivers, including an increase in lane weaving, slower reaction time, impaired depth perception, decreased coordination, and altered attention to the road. An analysis of these studies by Rogebers & Elvis (2016) found that the presence of THC metabolite in blood, saliva, or urine, was associated with 20 to 30 percent higher odds of a motor vehicle crash. Driving under the influence of cannabis is illegal in Montana – known as a DUIC. 

_{Source: Drugged Driving DrugFacts (NIDA)}

_{The effects of cannabis intoxication on motor vehicle collision revisited and revised}

_{Risk of road accident associated with the use of drugs: A systematic review and meta-analysis of evidence from epidemiological studies.}

_{Acute cannabis consumption and motor vehicle collision risk: Systematic review of observational studies and metaanalysis}

_{Marijuana use and motor vehicle crashes. Epidemiologic Reviews}

Increased risk for developing social anxiety disorder likely caused by consistent marijuana use.

Many people believe that cannabis use might help relieve stress and anxiety, but the reality is that this is just a short-term fix. In the long-term it can actually increase anxiety levels and impaired people’s ability to cope with stress. Learn more about stress, anxiety, and depression and Marijuana from this video.

_{Source: A positive association between anxiety disorders and cannabis use or cannabis use disorders in the general population—A meta-analysis of 31 studies}

_{Cannabis use and risk of psychiatric disorders: Prospective evidence from a U.S. national longitudinal study}

_{The association between cannabis use and anxiety disorders: Results from a population-based representative sample}

_{The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids: The Current State of Evidence and Recommendations for Research}

5% THC Potency was the average for the cannabis flower (the part that produces the “high”) in 2000, but it’s not uncommon to see products today that are 80-90% THC.

Over the past few decades, the amount of THC in cannabis has steadily climbed. With the development of new concentrated products, like vapes, dab-pens, and edibles, these can be made with up to 99% THC, though Montana limits the potency of the cannabis flower to 35%.  This is concerning because there is a “dose-response relationship” between THC and health risks – the higher potency of THC in a product or the more frequently used a product is, the higher the likelihood of addiction and risk of harm.

_{Source: Changes in Cannabis Potency Over the Last 2 Decades (1995–2014): Analysis of Current Data in the United States}

5.5-8 point decline in IQ from childhood to midlife for long-term marijuana users. These IQ points may not be full recovered over time.

Studies have shown that when youth start using marijuana at an early age, the impact to their brain function lasts into adulthood. The brain isn’t done developing until around age 25, so youth are more susceptible to severe and long-lasting consequences due to the changes cannabis can cause in brain structure. This includes negative impacts on attention span, learning, memory, and problem solving abilities.

_{Source: Meier et al 2022}

_{Early-Onset, Regular Cannabis Use Is Linked to IQ Decline}

1-in-6 people who start using Marijuana before the age of 18 become addicted.

When cannabis is used before the brain is fully developed (by age 25), it puts youth at a higher risk of becoming addicted. Repeated use of substances before the brain is done growing can permanently impact some parts of the brain, such as the reward circuit, due to increased levels of dopamine (aka the “happy” hormone). The reward circuit is one of the areas most affected by drug use and chemical changes in the brain. Increased dopamine levels shifts the balance between the stress and reward circuits, reducing impulse control, which can make a person with a substance use disorder seek the drug compulsively. Learn more about how addiction is a disease from this video.

Source: Is marijuana addictive? (NIDA)

Increased risk of developing schizophrenia and other psychoses is caused by Cannabis use; the higher the use, the greater the risk.

Studies have shown that cannabis use can worsen the symptoms of already diagnosed psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and have demonstrated an association with the development of other psychoses as well. There is an increased risk of any psychotic outcome in individuals who have ever used cannabis. This risk increases in people who use cannabis more frequently or in higher concentrations. People experiencing psychosis may suffer from delusions, hallucinations, disordered thinking, and other symptoms that make it difficult to function in daily life.

_{Source: Meta-analysis of the association between the level of cannabis use and risk of psychosis}

_{Cannabis use and risk of psychotic or affective mental health outcomes: A systematic review}

_{Alcohol confounds relationship between cannabis misuse and psychosis conversion in a high-risk sample}

Heavy Marijuana users are more likely to report thoughts of suicide than nonusers.

As suicide is the 10th most common cause of death in the United States, and Montana had the second-highest suicide rate in the country in 2022 (only behind Wyoming), many studies have been conducted to test whether there is an association between cannabis use and suicidality. These studies demonstrate evidence of a dose–response effect, with heavy cannabis use being associated with a higher risk of suicidal ideation and suicidal attempts. This is specifically problematic for males. Among men, any cannabis use was significantly associated with the incidence of suicidality, whereas studies showed women indicated suicidality with daily or heavy use of cannabis.

_{Sources: The association between cannabis use and suicidality among men and women: A population-based longitudinal study
A literature review and meta-analyses of cannabis use and suicidality}