Help me find good, readable articles about cannabis and teen brains?
February 22, 2024 1:48 PM Subscribe
I have a teen who is a little too interested in cannabis. You may remember him from his previous infatuation with David Goggins and Andrew Tate. I want to find some articles that I can share with him that are honest about the risks to his developing brain.
He's smoking weed daily, and definitely has a problem. We're working with his pediatrician, my therapist, my husband's therapist. I feel okayish about my resources for supporting him in general.
I have found with this particular kid, that he likes sources. That bringing some thoughtful and readable research to the table helps a ton. We did it with screen time and nutrition, and it was really effective.
I want to bring some shared baselines to our conversations about cannabis. This Scientific American article is good: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-pot-really-does-to-the-teen-brain/ and I'd like more in that vein.
I'd love a nice first person account, like "Why I wish I had not smoked quite so much weed when I was 14." But anything that feels like a good read is great.
I really want published articles that I can direct him to.
He's smoking weed daily, and definitely has a problem. We're working with his pediatrician, my therapist, my husband's therapist. I feel okayish about my resources for supporting him in general.
I have found with this particular kid, that he likes sources. That bringing some thoughtful and readable research to the table helps a ton. We did it with screen time and nutrition, and it was really effective.
I want to bring some shared baselines to our conversations about cannabis. This Scientific American article is good: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-pot-really-does-to-the-teen-brain/ and I'd like more in that vein.
I'd love a nice first person account, like "Why I wish I had not smoked quite so much weed when I was 14." But anything that feels like a good read is great.
I really want published articles that I can direct him to.
Here's a brief fact sheet put out by Health Canada that lays out some basic points and has multiple references to primary sources for each of them. Sadly it only provides the citations and not links to the various journal articles but I've tried copying the first few into Google and the first link for each was good.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 3:35 PM on February 22, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 3:35 PM on February 22, 2024 [1 favorite]
This isn't teen-specific, however Examine.com has a very good article compiling a lot of scientific research on the effects of cannabis.
posted by firefly5 at 4:17 PM on February 22, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by firefly5 at 4:17 PM on February 22, 2024 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Marijuana Damages Teen Brains: States that Legalize It Should Set a Minimum Age of 25 or Older . (NYT, June 16, 2019.) One quote from this piece: Numerous studies show that marijuana can have a deleterious impact on cognitive development in adolescents, impairing executive function, processing speed, memory, attention span and concentration. The damage is measurable with an I.Q. test.
posted by ojocaliente at 8:49 PM on February 22, 2024 [5 favorites]
posted by ojocaliente at 8:49 PM on February 22, 2024 [5 favorites]
There are tons of links and summaries on Johnny's Ambassadors that could lead you to something that works for him.
There's also some personal stories, although most of them are from parents - just a heads up that many of them deal with violence, self-harm and suicide.
Best of luck to you.
posted by raena at 8:53 PM on February 22, 2024 [1 favorite]
There's also some personal stories, although most of them are from parents - just a heads up that many of them deal with violence, self-harm and suicide.
Best of luck to you.
posted by raena at 8:53 PM on February 22, 2024 [1 favorite]
I happened to watch this episode of NOVA about cannabis with a teenager and it sparked good discussion. The episode goes into potential medical benefits and impacts to developing brains and the potential for addiction. It could be a good start
posted by brookeb at 7:31 AM on February 23, 2024
posted by brookeb at 7:31 AM on February 23, 2024
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posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 2:27 PM on February 22, 2024 [1 favorite]