Science continues to tie marijuana use to mental health problems.
Writing in The Lancet last month, researchers determined that using high potency marijuana was linked to an increased risk of psychosis.
After analyzing some 20 different studies, researchers concluded, “People who used higher potency cannabis were three times more likely to have first-episode psychosis compared with people who had never used cannabis,” and that “people who used higher potency cannabis daily were five times more likely to be diagnosed with a psychotic disorder compared with those who never used cannabis.”
The study also found evidence suggesting that using higher potency marijuana is associated with anxiety.
As many have written in the past, high potency marijuana is now common in states that have legalized medical and recreational marijuana.
In fact The Lancet article notes that THC concentrations in marijuana have more than doubled in the U.S. over the past decade.
Researchers have found time and again that marijuana is dangerous.
A 2019 study found using marijuana with THC levels exceeding 10% increased the odds of a psychotic episode.
A growing body of research suggests marijuana can have damaging effects on adolescent brains.
Last year a study out of California found infants were 35% more likely to die within a year of birth if their mother used marijuana heavily.
The study also found that infants were more likely to be born preterm, have a low birth weight, and be small for their gestational age.
Another study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal last year found adults under age 45 who frequently used marijuana were roughly twice as likely to suffer heart attack as adults who did not use marijuana.
A report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that states that legalized commercial marijuana sales saw self-harm rates rise by 46% among men ages 21 to 39.
Research shows Canada saw a dramatic increase in driving while high following legalization of marijuana in 2018.
In September of 2020 the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area released a report that found traffic deaths in which drivers tested positive for marijuana increased 135% and all Colorado traffic deaths increased 24% following marijuana legalization in 2013.
The list goes on and on.
All of this underscores what we have said for years: Marijuana may be many things, but “harmless” simply is not one of them.