SO IS MARIJUANA ANONYMOUS –
July 31, 2023 – Darren Weiss, president of Verano, a cannabis company operating in 13 states, agreed that public health and industry officials should not dismiss the potential for cannabis to be abused, but maintained that concerns are often overwrought.
“Addiction is a fact of life,” Weiss said. “There are folks who are addicted to caffeine, to sex, to all sorts of different things.”
The rise in marijuana use among teens has been highly publicized, along with concerns about the effects of more potent products on the developing adolescent brain. In May, the National Institute on Drug Abuse published a study asserting that young men with cannabis-use disorder have an increased risk of developing schizophrenia, although critics have pointed to other studies that cast doubt on the extent of the role marijuana plays in psychotic episodes.
Further fueling concerns among some experts: In the 1990s, THC, the psychoactive compound responsible for inducing a high, constituted about 5 percent of a typical joint or smoke from a bong or pipe, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Today, the THC content in smokable marijuana in recreational products can range between 15 and 21 percent, while products popular with young people such as edibles and oils can contain well over 50 percent.
Higher THC levels could increase the risk the brain will get conditioned to want more of the high-potency marijuana, said Nora Volkow, NIDA’s director.
