Marijuana. Weed. Pot. The Devil’s Lettuce.
There are many names for the plant known for its psychoactive properties and popularity amongst the youth. Especially in late adolescence and early adulthood (16-24 years of age), these age groups report the highest past 30-day use of cannabis in Canada. In history, we’ve seen how new substances have been used and legalized before their full effects were known, as seen with alcohol and nicotine. Recently, there has been an uptick in research involving cannabis and its long term effects, including the increased risk for schizophrenia, psychosis, and other psychotic symptoms. Similarly in 2023, Myran co-authored studies researching the connection between cannabis and psychosis, revealing a 220% increase in emergency room visits in Ontario for cannabis-induced psychosis from 2014 to 2021. As Canada mandated cannabis health warning messages continue to change, it’s important to understand the facts with cannabis without stigmatization.
The long-term effects of cannabis only present themselves if daily or weekly use continues from weeks to years and may harm your memory, concentration, intelligence, and decision-making skills. If someone is smoking cannabis, there are even more long-term effects as the smoke can make your airway and lungs more susceptible to infection and inflammation. It is also shown to have an effect on mental health, and as discussed previously, increases the risk of depression, anxiety, psychosis, and schizophrenia. The debatably worst part of cannabis is that around 3 in 10 individuals who use cannabis end up developing a cannabis use disorder leading to addiction. This can lead to increases in dose or frequency, which only further increases the mental health and cognitive risks. That being said, my goal in this article is not to demonize cannabis. In fact, I’m a partaker myself. However, it is significant to learn how to use cannabis safely and be educated of the possible health risks involved.
So, how can we use cannabis safely? The fact is that if you want to best protect your health, just don’t do it at all. But again, we do things everyday that technically go against our health, such as driving a car or getting a drink at the bar. Especially when already using cannabis, the key is to wean down on its dose and/or frequency over time to a rate that’s most beneficial for you. When consuming cannabis products, it’s important to look for products with a similar THC to CBD ratio, as high THC and low CBD products are more heavily linked to mental health risks, specifically psychosis and schizophrenia. If smoking cannabis, do not hold it in your lungs for more than 1-2 seconds; it does not increase the effect, you just might feel a bit more woozy due to the cut of oxygen supply and lung irritation. Also, it’s important to take breaks from smoking cannabis and consume different forms if necessary such as oils or edibles to avoid the accumulation of lasting lung function effects. Mixing cannabis with other substances can also intensify unwanted side effects, so avoid mixing substances if using. A useful tool to assess your cannabis use is using the CUDIT-R tool which assesses if your use is at risk to be problematic.
When approaching yourself or someone else about their cannabis use, it’s essential to do it in an empathetic, compassionate and non-judgemental manner. Promoting self-compassion when considering one’s cannabis use is essential to provide a non-shameful and safe environment to explore the possibilities and options of change. That being said, happy future seshes and look out for yourself and your friends when engaging in any drug.