Study: Pot Use Among Teens Brings Higher Risk of Psychotic Disorders
A study found teenagers who use marijuana are at a higher risk of suffering from psychiatric issues, news that has researchers deeply concerned.
The study was published in the JAMA Health Forum on Friday and its findings showed young people who used cannabis had more of a chance of being diagnosed with psychotic disorders, anxiety, and depression as the years passed, NPR reported Saturday.
“This cohort study found that adolescent cannabis use was associated with increased risk of incident psychiatric disorders, particularly psychotic and bipolar disorders. These results could inform the development of clinical and educational interventions for parents, adolescents, and clinicians, as well as protective policies to prevent or delay adolescent cannabis use in the context of expanding cannabis legalization,” the study’s conclusions and relevance portion stated.
Upon reviewing the findings, Dr. Ryan Sultan, a Columbia University psychiatrist, told NPR, “This is very, very, very worrying.”
The health data from 460,000 teenagers in Northern California was analyzed and the young people were tracked until they reached the age of 25. The teens who had symptoms of mental illness prior to using marijuana were excluded from the study.
The young people who said they used marijuana doubled their risk of developing bipolar disorder and psychotic disorders including schizophrenia.
“Now, only a small fraction — nearly 4,000 — of all teens in the study were diagnosed with each of these two disorders. Both bipolar and psychotic disorders are among the most serious and disabling of mental illnesses,” the NPR article said.
Those disorders come at a steep cost to society regarding treatment, the outlet said, adding, “The U.S. cannabis market is an industry with a value in the tens-of-billions — but the societal cost of schizophrenia has been calculated to be $350 billion a year.”
In December, Columbia University’s Irving Medical Center reported that approximately one in five high schoolers use cannabis:
Scientists are especially concerned because today’s cannabis products contain two to three times more THC (the ingredient that causes a high) than in the past, making them more potent. And previous studies have shown that using cannabis during adolescence, when the brain is still developing critical neural connections, may have lasting effects on cognitive functions that are critical to academic performance.
Experts said in 2025 that more Americans were addicted to marijuana but fewer were seeking help for the problem, per the Associated Press.
In 2014, Breitbart News reported that “George Soros has poured more than $80 million into the drive toward marijuana legalization since 1994. His partner in this effort was the late Peter B. Lewis, the former head of Progressive Insurance, a pot smoker himself, who added $40 million to the cause.”