Frank G. Magourilos, MPS, CPS, SCPS

Prevention Works Consulting LLC. – Impossible is just an opinion –

Teenagers and young adults should avoid trying cannabis, academics have said following a major new review.

Drivers should also avoid the drug, as should pregnant women and people with mental health illnesses, they said.

Researchers conducted an umbrella review of studies which have been published into cannabis use to determine which groups may benefit from cannabis and which groups should avoid it.

The new research, published in the BMJ, found that while cannabis compounds could be helpful for people with certain medical conditions, taking the drug could be detrimental for other groups of people.

An international team of experts, including researchers from the UK, analyzed data from 101 meta-analyses on cannabis use.

The studies were published from 2002 to 2022 and looked at the effects of different combinations of cannabis, cannabinoids, and cannabis-based medicines on health.

This review of reviews concluded that cannabis use was linked to poor mental health and cognition.

It increased the risk of car crashes among drivers and led to poor outcomes for babies when pregnant women used the drug, they said.

The authors said that cannabis should be avoided among young people while their brains were still developing.

The researchers argued that most mental illnesses were first identified during teenage years and young adulthood – and this was also a period when ‘cognition is paramount for optimizing academic performance and learning’.

The study, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, analyzed the blood and urine of 7,254 people in the US.

Academics from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, who led the study, said that marijuana may be an under-recognized source of lead and cadmium exposure among users.

Balancing risks and benefits of cannabis use: umbrella review of meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials and observational studies (bmj.com)

 

 

Certified Prevention, Behavioral Health & Wellness Consultant

International Certification & Reciprocity Consortium – IC&RC Prevention Committee Member

SAMHSA Strategic Prevention Framework National Train the Trainer

 

“Be Above the Influence” Social Health Marketing Campaign”