Cannabis use is common among first-episode psychosis patients (Katz et al., 2016; Abdel-Baki et al., 2017), and cannabis use has been hypothesized to be a causal factor in these disorders (Toftdahl et al., 2016). More recent data appears to confirm this positive association between adolescent cannabis use and schizophrenia spectrum disorders (Arseneault et al., 2002; Jones et al., 2018), particularly in that cannabis both hastens the onset and amplifies the severity of schizophrenia (Shahzade et al., 2018). However, Hanna et al. (2016) reported better cognitive function in adolescent cannabis users with schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorders, suggesting a potential protective role of cannabis in psychosis-related cognitive dysfunction. https://rehabliving.net/9-common-myths-about-substance-addiction-all-you/ Structural MRI studies are not consistent with a neuroprotective effect and have suggested that processes underlying gray matter and cortical maturation may mediate the association between adolescent cannabis use and risk for schizophrenia. Among adolescents aged 10–21, those with CUD and early-onset schizophrenia exhibited decreased GMV in the left superior parietal cortex compared to controls (Kumra et al., 2012). Greater cannabis consumption across an 18-month follow-up period in adolescents with CUD predicted a greater decrease in the left inferior longitudinal fasciculus (Kumra et al., 2012), a white matter tract that was previously shown to be disrupted in adolescents with schizophrenia (Ashtari et al., 2007).
What Do Substance Abuse and Addiction Mean?
The survey also documents students’ perceptions of harm, disapproval of use, and perceived availability of drugs. From February through June 2023, the Monitoring the Future investigators collected 22,318 surveys from students enrolled across 235 public and private schools in the United States. Education and honest communication go a long way in helping teenagers learn about the risks of drugs and alcohol. Many teens experimenting with illicit drugs and alcohol will turn out fine and live healthy lives.
What Are the Four Stages of Drug Addiction?
That’s why there’s an urgent need to better educate teens about the risks of counterfeit pills and give them tools to help them use safely, she says. This means that occasional or recreational users can be at risk of dying, says Sheila Vakharia, deputy director of the department of research and Academic engagement at the Drug policy Alliance. And they often end up buying counterfeit versions of these medications – fakes that look like the commonly used prescription medications – which have increasingly become contaminated with fentanyl in the past couple of years. Schools, families, and communities should work together to build a safe environment for youth at school and at home. Schools, parents, and families can help prevent high-risk drug use, both individually and by working together.
- The Monitoring the Future survey is conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health.
- The result is among the findings now released from SAMHSA’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health for 2023.
- A cross-sectional study looking at combined substance use and psychiatric morbidity in adolescents aged 13–15 found that regular cannabis and nicotine use had an additive risk for psychiatric disorders (Boys et al., 2003).
- Though retrospective, adolescents with MDD and non-medical prescription opioid use often reported MDD to predate opioid use, suggesting MDD to be a risk factor for future opioid abuse (Edlund et al., 2015).
- Enter your phone number below to receive a free and confidential call from a treatment provider.
Severe Side Effects of Drugs on Teens
Information provided by NIDA is not a substitute for professional medical care. Find out as much as you can about their drug use—what substances they’re mdma and the brain using, how often they’re using them, and how they’re getting them. Be clear that the risks of drugs are serious and that drug use will not be tolerated.
Most reported substance use among adolescents held steady in 2022
The rising popularity of next-generation e-cigarette devices are concerning due to their ability to deliver higher nicotine concentrations in the form of nicotine salts (Boykan et al., 2019). One study suggests that urinary levels of cotinine, a metabolite of nicotine, are higher in adolescent e-cigarette users, relative to levels observed in another study of those who consume combustibles (Benowitz et al., 2018; Goniewicz et al., 2019). However, e-cigarettes can vary widely in the amount of nicotine they deliver per puff (Wagener et al., 2017) and this finding may depend on the model of e-cigarette used by the study population. While the use of newer how long does ecstasy last model e-cigarettes results in almost double the mean urinary cotinine levels compared to traditional smoking, adolescents who use any model of e-cigarettes have lower urinary cotinine levels, than those who smoke combustibles (Boykan et al., 2019). Nicotine and alcohol also have additive effects on the risk for future substance use in that concurrent use predicts a greater risk of future substance abuse. A U.S. national survey on alcohol users aged 12–20 found that subjects with a past-year smoking status drank more alcohol on average and had a higher risk for AUD than those that drank equal amounts without smoking (Grucza and Bierut, 2006).
Mind Matters: What if someone I know needs help?
Marijuana can impair concentration, worsen mental health, interfere with prescription medications, lead to risky sexual behaviors, or contribute to dangerous driving. Drug and alcohol use can lead to substance use disorder as well as the specific health risks of the substance being abused. Public health experts track the rates of substance use in people of all ages. Notably, though, the trend among underage nicotine consumers — between ages 10 and 20 — was the opposite.
Although brain development continues well into adulthood (Spear, 2014), we limit this review to studies using adolescent sample populations with a mean age of 19-years-old or lower to capture the potential effects of drug use during the most dynamic stages of post-childhood development. This review comes at a time of recreational cannabis legalization and decriminalization by government bodies across the globe despite our somewhat incomplete understanding of its causal impacts on the developing brain alone, or in combination with other drugs commonly used by youth. Importantly, we also summarize the currently available findings surrounding the potential consequences of vaping, which has quickly become one of the most common methods of nicotine and cannabis delivery in youth, one that is still under-represented in the literature to date. The age of drinking onset may also have important implications for future cognitive and neurobiological abnormalities. An earlier age of first drinking onset predicted worse psychomotor speed and visual attention functioning, but only when the model accounted for drinking duration (Nguyen-Louie et al., 2017).
The most critical part of preventing teenage substance abuse is communication. By fostering trust and understanding, you can help them through difficult times. Teenagers who abuse substances are more likely to have mental health issues. Conversely, teenagers with mental health issues are more likely to use substances to cope with their problems.
This video for middle school students explains how the brain develops and how drugs affect the brain. This video for middle school students describes the effects of addiction and how getting high can take over your life. Other health problems like allergies, sinus infections, hormone imbalances, or mental disorders can also cause these symptoms in teens. Youth with substance use disorders also experience higher rates of physical and mental illnesses, diminished overall health and well-being, and potential progression to addiction. Substances that teens may use include those that are legal for adults, such as alcohol or tobacco. Alcohol and nicotine or tobacco may be some of the first, easier-to-get substances for teens.
Future studies would benefit from investigating the impacts of drug exposure at multiple developmental points and how this compares with adolescent-exclusive use. Vaping is attractive to teens because e-cigarettes are often flavored like fruit, candy, or mint. These products may contain nicotine or other synthetic substances that damage the brain and lungs.