Head
- An addictive drug. (American Addiction Centers)
- Development of schizophrenia or other psychoses. (National Academies of Sciences)
- Altered brain development and cognitive impairment. (American Society of Addiction Medicine)
- Onset of psychiatric disorders. (American Psychiatric Association)
- Increase in suicide attempts. (American Academy of Pediatrics)
- Psychiatric and neurocognitive adverse effects. (American Academy of Neurology)
Mouth
- Carcinogens in marijuana smoke “pose numerous health hazards to the patient and others.” (American Cancer Society)
Pregnancy
- Low birth weight to pregnant women. (National Academies of Sciences)
- Impaired ability to produce viable embryos. (Endocrine Society)
“Women who used cannabis during pregnancy were 1.5 times more likely to have a child with autism . . . We highly discourage use of cannabis during pregnancy and breastfeeding.”
Heart
- Potential harm to the heart, lungs and blood vessels. (American Heart Association)
Lungs
- Clearly damages the human lung. (American Lung Association)
“Smoke from marijuana combustion has been shown to contain many of the same toxins, irritants and carcinogens as tobacco smoke.”
Many mainstream medical organizations caution or outright oppose the legalization of recreational marijuana
- American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) – “Legalization would create an industry to commercialize and market marijuana, which would be harmful for children.” – Dr. Robert Lee
- American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP)
- American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP)
- American Academy of Neurology
- American Cancer Society
- American Heart Association – “The American Heart Association recommends that people not smoke or vape any substance, including cannabis products, because of the potential harm to the heart, lungs and blood vessels.”
- American Medical Association “[C]annabis is a dangerous drug and as such is a serious public health concern.”
- American Lung Association
- American Psychiatric Association – “There is no current scientific evidence that cannabis is in any way beneficial for the treatment of any psychiatric disorder.”
- American Psychological Association
- American Society of Addiction Medicine ASAM “does not support the legalization of marijuana” and recommends any jurisdiction that has already legalized “to prohibit the legal sale of marijuana products to anyone younger than 25 years of age.”
- Caron Treatment Centers “Lawmakers need to pause for a deeper understanding because lives are at stake.” – Doug Tieman, President and CEO
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine released a comprehensive report in 2017 on existing evidence regarding the health effects of using marijuana. The 487-page report came to nearly 100 conclusions, including:
- Respiratory problems
- Mental health issues
- Increased risk of car accidents
- Progression to and dependence on tobacco, alcohol and other drugs
- Learning, memory, and attention loss
- Low birth weight
- Increased risk of suicide, depression and social anxiety disorder
“The opioid crisis appears to be worsening where marijuana has been legalized.”
JAMA International Medicine Journal, 2018
Over 30,000 American adults were sampled and researchers found that marijuana users were more than twice as likely to move on to abuse prescription opioids – even when controlling for age, sex, race/ethnicity or other substance use disorders. (The American Journal of Psychiatry, 2017)
Users of cannabis reported greater pain severity and more day-to-day interference than those that did not use marijuana. (The Lancet Journal, 2018)
Cannabis in psychiatric disorders: the cart before the horse?
Health care industry braces for fallout from increased marijuana use
“More than half of calls made to the Michigan Poison Center at Wayne State University concerning marijuana exposure through edibles like brownies, chocolate bars, candy and gummies involved children as young as 6 years old. Since the beginning of the year, the Michigan Poison Center at WSU has received 420 calls related to marijuana exposure, 104 of them involving children under 18 years old. In 2014, the poison center received one call for pediatric exposure to edible pot. By 2018, the number had risen to 46 and so far this year through August, there have been 59 reports. Younger children, 2 or 3 years old, can become unresponsive and may stop breathing, requiring a breathing tube and ventilator.”
Major scientific and medical organizations agree – from the American Medical Association to the Center for Disease Control to the World Health Organization – that marijuana is both addictive and harmful to the human brain, especially when used as an adolescent. “Approximately 1 in 10 people who use marijuana will become addicted. When they start before age 18, the rate of addiction rises to 1 in 6.”
