Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse - Adolescent Marijuana Use and Its Impact on the Developing Brain

                                                                         
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   Adolescent Marijuana Use and Its Impact on the Developing Brain

Toronto, June 17, 2015 — In the sixth report in its signature Substance Abuse in Canada series, the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse (CCSA) today released research shedding critical light on how using cannabis (also known as marijuana) affects the developing adolescent brain.

Canadian youth have the highest rate of marijuana use in the developed world, and marijuana is the most commonly used illegal drug among Canadians aged 15 to 24 years. Today’s report confirms that early and frequent marijuana use among this age group involves a greater risk of cognitive and behavioural impairment than marijuana use among adults.

Compiled by several well-known and respected experts in the field of marijuana research, The Effects of Cannabis Use during Adolescence provides a high-level, broad overview of the latest research on the issue. It gives valuable and useful evidence to teachers, healthcare providers and policy makers to help them develop and employ more effective youth drug use prevention and intervention programs. It will also help increase knowledge and understanding among parents, communities and people working with youth about the effects that marijuana use, particularly regular use, can have in adolescence and beyond.

CCSA sought to answer the following questions in the report:

•   What is the impact of marijuana on the brains and behaviour of young people?
  
•   Is there a link between marijuana use and mental illness?
  
•   Is marijuana addictive?
  
  The report answers these questions with evidence that marijuana is not a benign substance. Early and frequent use can seriously limit a young person’s educational, occupational and social development, and some of these adverse effects may be irreversible. Marijuana is also linked to mental illness, it is addictive, and it produces cognitive and motor function impairment that can present a safety hazard for drivers. Furthermore, previous CCSA research has shown that youth do not perceive marijuana to be a harmful substance, and there is evidence showing that as perceptions of risk decrease, rates of use increase.
  CCSA makes recommendations on what further steps should be taken, including:
  

•   Early identification and more effective treatment of problematic marijuana use;
  
•   Expanded prevention and intervention programs targeted at youth; and
  
•   More Canadian-based research and better data to inform policy, practice and programs.
  For more information on the report’s findings and recommendations, please consult the Backgrounder, Report in Short and full Technical Report.
  For over a quarter century, CCSA has lead the national dialogue on how to reduce the harms of alcohol and other drugs, including the release of national strategies on alcohol and prescription drug abuse. As part of this mandate, CCSA launched the Substance Abuse in Canada series in 2005 to draw attention to key substance abuse issues and highlight areas for action in both policy and practice. The organization is committed to ensuring that the millions of Canadians with substance use disorders have access to timely, high-quality treatment, and that recovery from this chronic health issue is an attainable and sustainable reality.
  500-75 rue Albert Street, Ottawa ON K1P 5E7 • Tel./Tél. : 613-235-4048 • Fax/Téléc. : 613-235-8101
  www.ccsa.ca • www.cclt.ca
  

Adolescent Marijuana Use and Its Impact on the Developing Brain

Quotes
“There is a significant debate in the public arena today about the place of marijuana in Canadian society. As Canada’s only national organization with a mandate to present best evidence on the harms of drugs and alcohol in our society, CCSA initiated this report on the effects of adolescent marijuana use at a critical time to contribute to greater public awareness and a more informed dialogue. The report is a timely review looking at what developmental, cognitive and mental health harms can arise from early and frequent use among youth, who are the future of our country. Canadian youth must understand and acknowledge that marijuana is not a harmless drug. CCSA believes that only a sustained, national and collaborative effort will be successful in addressing this issue.”
Rita Notarandrea
Chief Executive Officer (interim) Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse
“The new report released by the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse is an important contribution to the ongoing global debates about the effects of cannabis use on health, and its focus on youth — the future of every nation — once again reminds us that cannabis use in adolescence can have a negative impact on psychosocial development, and prevention of cannabis and other substance use among young people should be a public health priority for contemporary societies.”
Dr. Vladimir Poznyak
Coordinator, Management of Substance Abuse World Health Organization
“CCSA’s report gives a solid summary of the latest research around the effects of cannabis use during adolescence, and provides professionals with information that is based in evidence — rather than myth or hype — that will be useful to parents and youth. The report is particularly important during this time of increasing public debate about the place of marijuana within Canadian society to better inform this discourse.”
Diane Buhler Executive Director Parent Action on Drugs
“As the science continues to evolve in this area, it is important to be proactive and use the latest evidence to guide our present policies and practices. The latest Substance Abuse in Canada report provides useful information and advice to those interested in working in the field.”
Dr. Franco Vaccarino
President and Professor of Psychology, University of Guelph Chair, CCSA Scientific Advisory Council
- 30 -
Media contact: media@ccsa.ca Twitter: @CCSACanada
500-75 rue Albert Street, Ottawa ON K1P 5E7 • Tel./Tél. : 613-235-4048 • Fax/Téléc. : 613-235-8101
www.ccsa.ca • www.cclt.ca 

Recreational Pot Smokers Change Their Brains, Too

Recreational Pot Smokers Change Their Brains, Too

A letter to Debra and Jeff Jay Interventionists:

We’ve just found out that our daughter and son, both away at college, are smoking pot. We learned this through their younger sister, who decided we should know. We talked to both of our children to express our disapproval and inform them that they needed to stop using this drug immediately. My husband and I were shocked at their responses. They didn’t care what we had to say, but rather vehemently defended marijuana as a harmless drug that is being legalized and also used as a beneficial medication. They are both certain that smoking this drug a couple times a week is perfectly safe and say they plan to continue smoking it recreationally. My husband blew up at their disrespectful attitude and the conversation devolved into a screaming match.

Neither my husband nor I drink. It is a decision we made when our children were little. Alcoholism runs in both of our families, and we decided not to tempt fate. We have raised our kids to understand that addiction is a genetic disease and that they could have inherited it. We consider ourselves informed, communicative parents who prepared our children to make smart decisions around drinking and drugs. But these two kids steamrolled us with arguments on why this drug is harmless. They are obviously getting a lot of pro-marijuana information, which is usurping our parental guidance and authority. We are at our wit’s end.

-Mom and Dad

Dear Mom and Dad:

A widespread belief that recreational marijuana use – smoking it a couple times a week – is perfectly safe is being challenged by a new study in the Journal of Neuroscience. Researchers from Harvard and Northwestern studied the brains of recreational pot smokers, ages 18 to 25, and compared them with non-marijuana smokers in the same age group.

Recreational Pot Smokers Change Their Brains, Too

In the areas of the brain that control emotions and motivation, recreational pot smokers showed significant abnormalities. “This is a part of the brain that you absolutely never ever want to touch,” said Hans Breiter, one of the researchers. These areas of the brain largely determine what we find pleasurable in life and how we gauge benefit and loss. Even those who only smoke once a week showed noticeable abnormalities. Smoking more often causes an increase in significant variations.

Breiter goes on to say, “People think a little marijuana shouldn’t cause a problem if someone is doing OK with work or school. Our data directly says this is not so.”

We don’t yet know exactly in what form these alterations to the brain change a person’s quality of life, but the emotional brain is a determining factor in our capacity to engage in healthy relationships, find a sense of happiness in life and have the ability to make good decisions. Memory is also exceedingly important in our capacity to make decisions.

Since the brain is in a rapid development phase during the teen years throughout the mid-twenties, introducing any drugs can alter this growth process and, according to neuroscientists, possibly cause permanent changes. When a brain’s ability to access emotions, process rewards, and make decisions is altered by marijuana, it should be taken seriously, according to researchers.

Additionally, by altering one’s mood with substances whenever socializing, social maturity is slowed or blocked. When we depend on a drug to do the work for us, we don’t develop socially in the same manner as we do when we’re sober.

We suggest you present this information to your children and pair it with a behavioral expectation that they stop using marijuana. If understanding how marijuana compromises their brains does not lead to an immediate end to their relationship with the drug, you have a bigger problem than recreational use. Kids value their brains. If they are willing to sacrifice their brain’s ability to function at its best possible level for the benefit of a high, seek professional help from a therapist who specializes in young adults and substance abuse. As parents, have a detailed conversation with the therapist before including your children to assess whether or not the therapist shares your values and expectations. 

Oct 9, 2014

The Outlook for Borderline Personality Disorder

Hospitals Report Hundreds of Cases of Illness Caused by Synthetic Marijuana

April 28th, 2015

Hospitals across the country have been reporting hundreds of cases of seriously ill people coming to the emergency room after using synthetic marijuana. In New York City, more than 120 cases were reported in a single week, according to NPR.

Many cases have also been seen in Alabama and Mississippi. Several people have died, the article notes.

Synthetic marijuana is often sold under the name “K2” or “Spice.” According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, these drugs can be extremely dangerous. Health effects can include severe agitation and anxiety; fast, racing heartbeat and high blood pressure; nausea and vomiting; muscle spasms, seizures, and tremors; intense hallucinations and psychotic episodes; and suicidal and other harmful thoughts and/or actions.

“We have to chemically restrain and physically restrain them because they become violent and very strong. It takes four to five personnel to restrain them on a gurney,” Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, told NPR. One patient last week ended up in the ICU. “He was combative and required sedation in the ER,” Dr. Glatter said.

There is likely something unusual about the K2 that is causing the recent rash of ER visits, Dr. Glatter notes. Makers of synthetic drugs frequently change their molecular structure, to evade laws that outlaw the drugs. The changing structure also makes the drugs more difficult to detect on drug tests. These changes make the effects of the drugs more unpredictable.

“Chemists are getting more and more creative in designing these structures,” said Marilyn Huestis of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. She added, “What’s in it today isn’t going to be what’s in it tomorrow.” 

From Partnership for Drug Free kids

Teen cannabis users have poor long-term memory in adulthood

Date:

March 12, 2015

Source:

Northwestern University

Summary:

Teens who were heavy marijuana users -- smoking it daily for about three years -- had an abnormally shaped hippocampus and performed poorly on long-term memory tasks, reports a new study. The hippocampus is important to long-term memory, which is the ability to remember life events. The brain abnormalities and memory problems were observed during the individuals' early twenties, two years after they stopped smoking marijuana.

---

Teens who abused cannabis as teens performed about 18 percent worse on long-term memory tests than those who never abused cannabis.

Credit: © stokkete / Fotolia

Teens who were heavy marijuana users -- smoking it daily for about three years -- had an abnormally shaped hippocampus and performed poorly on long-term memory tasks, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study.

The hippocampus is important to long-term memory (also known as episodic memory), which is the ability to remember autobiographical or life events. 

The brain abnormalities and memory problems were observed during the individuals' early twenties, two years after they stopped smoking marijuana.

Young adults who abused cannabis as teens performed about 18 percent worse on long-term memory tests than young adults who never abused cannabis.

"The memory processes that appear to be affected by cannabis are ones that we use every day to solve common problems and to sustain our relationships with friends and family," said senior author Dr. John Csernansky, the Lizzie Gilman professor and chair of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

The study will be published March 12 in the journal Hippocampus.

The study is among the first to say the hippocampus is shaped differently in heavy marijuana smokers and the different looking shape is directly related to poor long-term memory performance. Previous studies of cannabis users have shown either the oddly shaped hippocampus or poor long-term memory but none have linked them.

Previous research by the same Northwestern team showed poor short-term and working memory performance and abnormal shapes of brain structures in the sub-cortex including the striatum, globus pallidus and thalamus.

"Both our recent studies link the chronic use of marijuana during adolescence to these differences in the shape of brain regions that are critical to memory and that appear to last for at least a few years after people stop using it," said lead study author Matthew Smith, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Feinberg School of Medicine.

The longer the individuals were chronically using marijuana, the more abnormal the shape of their hippocampus, the study reports. The findings suggest that these regions related to memory may be more susceptible to the effects of the drug the longer the abuse occurs.

The abnormal shape likely reflects damage to the hippocampus and could include the structure's neurons, axons or their supportive environments.

"Advanced brain mapping tools allowed us to examine detailed and sometimes subtle changes in small brain structures, including the hippocampus," said Lei Wang, also a senior study author and an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Feinberg. The scientists used computerized programs they developed with collaborators that performed fine mappings between structural MRIs of different individuals' brains.

Subjects took a narrative memory test in which they listened to a series of stories for about one minute, then were asked to recall as much content as possible 20 to 30 minutes later. The test assessed their ability to encode, store, and recall details from the stories.

The groups in the study started using marijuana daily between 16 to 17 years of age for about three years. At the time of the study, they had been marijuana free for about two years. A total of 97 subjects participated, including matched groups of healthy controls, subjects with a marijuana use disorder, schizophrenia subjects with no history of substance use disorders, and schizophrenia subjects with a marijuana use disorder. The subjects who used marijuana did not abuse other drugs.

The study also found that young adults with schizophrenia who abused cannabis as teens performed about 26 percent more poorly on memory tests than young adults with schizophrenia who never abused cannabis.

In the U.S., marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug, and young adults have the highest -- and growing -- prevalence of use. Decriminalization of the drug may lead to greater use. Four states have legalized marijuana for recreational use, and 23 states plus Washington D.C. have legalized it for medical use.

Because the study results examined one point in time, a longitudinal study is needed to definitively show if marijuana is responsible for the observed differences in the brain and memory impairment, Smith said.

"It is possible that the abnormal brain structures reveal a pre-existing vulnerability to marijuana abuse," Smith said. "But evidence that the longer the participants were abusing marijuana, the greater the differences in hippocampus shape suggests marijuana may be the cause."

Other Northwestern authors include senior author Hans C. Breiter and coauthors Derin J. Cobia, James L. Reilly, Andrea G. Roberts and Kathryn I. Alpert.

The study was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health of the National Institutes of Health, grants R01 MH056584 and P50 MH071616.