#72 Notable Clinical Interest
Emerging findings or policy developments worth monitoring closely.
If you are a parent, caregiver, or young adult patient, this research reinforces that cannabis therapies should be reserved for adults with clinical oversight, and that adolescent use without medical necessity carries real psychiatric risk.
Large-scale research continues to reinforce what clinicians have observed for years: adolescent cannabis use is associated with increased risk of psychotic disorders, depression, and anxiety later in life. The developing brain, particularly before age 25, is uniquely vulnerable to the effects of THC on endocannabinoid system signaling, and early exposure may alter neurodevelopmental trajectories in ways that increase psychiatric risk. This is precisely why cannabis medicine physicians emphasize that adult medical use under clinical supervision is fundamentally different from unsupervised adolescent recreational use.
“This is not an argument against medical cannabis, it is an argument for keeping it out of developing brains and in the hands of clinicians who understand dosing, timing, and risk.”
๐ง A large new study adds to the growing body of evidence that adolescent cannabis use is associated with increased risk of psychosis, depression, and anxiety in later years. This aligns with what we understand about endocannabinoid system development: THC exposure during critical neurodevelopmental windows can disrupt signaling pathways that regulate mood, perception, and cognition. In my clinic, I see 30,000+ adult patients who benefit from carefully dosed cannabis therapy, and that success depends on mature neurobiology and clinical supervision. Adolescent recreational use is not the same as adult medical use, and conflating the two does a disservice to both patient safety and the field. If anything, studies like this should motivate us to regulate smarter, not to retreat from cannabis medicine altogether.
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Dr Caplan’s review of the JAMA Health Forum paper, including what the methods do and do not allow us to conclude: Adolescent Cannabis Use and Psychosis Risk โ Study Review
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๐ฐ Source:
https://www.wbaa.org/2026-02-23/a-huge-study-finds-a-link-between-cannabis-use-in-teens-and-psychosis-later