Cannabis users aged 16 and 17 are more than three times as vulnerable to developing an addiction to the drug than adults, researchers have found.
However, they may not be at increased risk of other mental health problems that have been linked to the drug. The findings indicate that adolescents who used cannabis were no more likely to have higher levels of subclinical depression or anxiety than adults who use cannabis.
Additionally, they were not more vulnerable than adult users to associations with psychotic-like symptoms. Lead author Dr Will Lawn said: “There is a lot of concern about how the developing teenage brain might be more vulnerable to the long-term effects of cannabis, but we did not find evidence to support this general claim. Cannabis addiction is a real issue that teenagers should be aware of, as they appear to be much more vulnerable to it than adults.
