By the time most American teenagers are sixteen, they have smoked cannabis at least once. A study by aacap.org showed that most teens start smoking around eleven years old, and hit their peak at sixteen or eighteen. The number of teens smoking cannabis has increased over the last few years, with about 2.25 million teenagers reporting they smoked cannabis, as of early 2025. Compared to the number of teenagers in the U.S., that number might seem insignificant, but it is undeniable that over 2 million is a grand amount.
The biggest issue with cannabis in the country is the quantity and frequency that it’s being consumed. About 24 states in the U.S. allow its residents to use cannabis for non-medical reasons, all requiring the legal age of 21 to purchase. According to https://nida.nih.gov national surveys, in those 24 states, about 6.3% of 12th graders, reported they consume cannabis daily. Whether that consists of taking a hit of a pen, rolling a joint, or taking an edible, hundreds of thousands of teens are getting high.
While many teenagers think that it’s impossible to get addicted to cannabis, compared to nicotine, they are incorrect. The addictive component in cannabis is THC, and while not everyone develops an addiction, a significant number do. THC alters the brain by affecting dopamine levels, which can cause the user to feel happier, or more relaxed. As that feeling fades, the brain chases the “high” from the drug, and causes the user to crave that feeling once more. That is how the addictions start. THC also harms the prefrontal cortex, which is still developing until around the age of twenty-five. It’s scary that kids a decade younger are already permanently damaging their brains.
While cannabis can have what’s considered “positive effects”, such as helping improve sleep, eating, and reducing stress levels, what most people don’t realize is that by “helping” with daily issues, it actually masks them. It causes the user to rely on cannabis instead of developing lasting skills to help solve their issues. This toxic system is how people develop Cannabis Use Disorder, or CUD.
This isn’t just about consumption, but about harboring an active addiction.
According to https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/, in teens aged twelve to seventeen, about one in forty were reported to meet the standard for CUD. People who suffer from CUD typically have lasting effects on their mental health, brain development, and social and academic performance. Some people have severe cases, in which the use is so frequent, (such as multiple times a day) that there has been proof of IQ indefinitely dropping.
But why this spike in cannabis abuse? Because the more normalized something becomes socially, the more acceptable it becomes, and thus influential. Because it is practically impossible for somebody to overdose on cannabis, it is not usually seen as a drug, like cocaine or fentanyl. Substances like cocaine and fentanyl are undeniably harmful and dangerous, but since cannabis is a common, “harmless” drug, it is what teenagers commonly end up using.
As a teenager myself, you may be wondering why I am so against the use of cannabis, and the thing is, I’m not necessarily against it. I think that people need to remember that although it can make a party more fun, or hanging out with your friends funnier, it is still a drug. You are still consuming a drug even if it is not a hard one. I’ve seen people I care about start to lose themselves in addiction, without even understanding what’s happening. I want to educate others in hopes of protecting them from falling down that dangerous spiral, because no one wants an addiction.
Believe me I am not a saint, I’ve been to parties and I’v tried things before that I knew weren’t the best for my body. But it is important to be aware of what you are consuming, how much you consume, as well as what the effects of it are. It is crucial to have more talks in school, online, with parents, and simply educating youth on what the effects of cannabis are.
We have to dissolve the false narrative that mood altering drugs do not have bad effects on the human body. We have to dissolve the false narrative that doing drugs everyday is “normal” for growing minds.
And lastly, we have to dissolve the false narrative that addictions are only addictions if they can kill you.
