The dangers of cannabis in adolescents

Depression, academic failure, love difficulties, psychosis… the dangers of cannabis among adolescents are a reality. What are the consequences of cannabis use in adolescence? Can we protect our children against this scourge? The point on a phenomenon that has persisted for several decades.

Anxious to become more and more autonomous and to stand out from his parents, the adolescent tends to want to play with taboos. The desire to prove that he is no longer a child sometimes results in thoughtless and immature acts that can lead to disaster.

Cannabis is considered a soft drug and often serves as an introduction to so-called harder drugs. Fairly easy to access, it remains inexpensive (compared to other drugs) and a little too commonplace, which makes it extremely dangerous. Unaware of the danger to which he exposes himself, influenced by his friends and/or curious at the idea of ​​consuming psychotropic drugs, the teenager is easily drawn into an adventure that can cost him dearly.

Concretely, the consumption of cannabis in adolescence (and more particularly up to the age of 15) can lead to problems with brain maturation. Some studies are particularly interested in schizophrenia and its more or less direct relationship with cannabis consumption.

Apart from the fact that this mind-altering plant has adverse effects on the brain, it is evident that smoking it leads to a number of dangerous behaviors. Thus, we find that the consumption of cannabis can be the cause of illnesses, road accidents, unprotected sex, violence, loss of concentration, lack of productivity and even depression that can lead to suicide.

Teenagers who use cannabis tend to minimize the risks associated with it. Pretending that many of their acquaintances regularly indulge in what they colloquially call "smoking", they mistakenly think that this activity is altogether quite banal. However, many road accidents, domestic violence and fights are caused by people who have used cannabis.

The same is true for unprotected sex: often “accidents” occur after using drugs, even when the drug is considered “soft”. Finally, cannabis can reinforce the feeling of depression; after having smoked, the adolescent under psychotropic may take action and commit suicide when he had no intention of doing so when he was in his normal state.

If he regularly smokes cannabis, the teenager will gradually get used to the effects that it produces: a tolerance to the effects of THC (major psychotropic component of cannabis) will then develop. His brain will always demand more psychotropics, which risks leading to a much greater consumption of cannabis but also to the testing of new harder drugs (cocaine, ecstasy, heroin, etc.). Remember in passing that smoking cannabis also carries the same risks as so-called “classic” smoking (cardiovascular weakness, exposure to many cancers, cough, damaged skin, etc.).

Anyone who uses cannabis is more exposed to dropping out of school, to a possible immature marriage (and therefore doomed to failure) but also to early sexual experiences or even an unexpected pregnancy. All these elements will have a significant impact in adulthood, they can indeed influence the course of a life, and this, even after having stopped consumption.

If there are many initiatives that aim to warn adolescents (especially at school) about the dangers of cannabis, it is difficult to make them understand how important the subject is. The adolescent's main problem is often that he is not afraid of danger and does not hesitate to oppose authority (whether at school or at home). In this context, it is complicated to give him sound advice that he will apply to the letter. The best thing to do therefore remains to warn him of the dangers by making him responsible (the teenager will perhaps be more sensitive to sentences such as "you could be violent with your girlfriend" or "you could hit someone with your scooter" than to the sermons heard a thousand times "it's a drug, it's not good", "you risk becoming addicted", etc.).