WHY IT MATTERS: If you are weighing the risks of cannabis versus alcohol for symptom management, understanding that alcohol carries substantially higher risks for organ damage, dependence, and death can help you and your clinician make more informed treatment decisions. CLINICAL OVERVIEW: Comparing the long-term health consequences of alcohol and cannabis is a clinically important discussion, as alcohol carries well-documented risks including liver disease, cardiovascular damage, neurotoxicity, and a strong association with dependence and mortality, while cannabis, though not without risk, has a significantly lower profile for organ damage and fatal overdose. In my clinical experience with over 30,000 patients, cannabis can be problematic for certain populations, particularly adolescents and those predisposed to psychiatric conditions, but the aggregate body burden of chronic alcohol use far exceeds that of regulated cannabis use in adults.
Horrifying simulation shows what happens to your body if you smoke weed every day
WHY IT MATTERS: If you are a daily cannabis user or a parent of a teenager considering cannabis, this research reinforces why age of initiation, dosing discipline, and medical guidance matter for protecting long-term brain health. CLINICAL OVERVIEW: Daily cannabis use, particularly when initiated during adolescence, carries real clinical risks including changes to brain development such as accelerated cortical thinning in the prefrontal cortex. While sensationalized media simulations often exaggerate these effects, the underlying research on adolescent neurodevelopment and heavy daily use is legitimate and something clinicians must take seriously when counseling patients.
Most cannabis users are ‘non-problematic’, Canadian data shows – leafie
WHY IT MATTERS: If you are a medical cannabis patient or considering becoming one, this research supports the clinical reality that responsible, guided cannabis use is not inherently dangerous, which may help normalize conversations with your other healthcare providers about incorporating cannabis into your treatment plan. CLINICAL OVERVIEW: Canadian population-level data reinforces what clinicians who work with cannabis patients see daily: the vast majority of people who use cannabis do so without developing problematic use patterns. This finding is consistent with decades of research showing that cannabis use disorder affects a minority of users, typically estimated at 9-10% of those who try cannabis, and that medical cannabis patients under clinical guidance tend to have even lower rates of problematic use.