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Teens and teens who experiment with marijuana and prescription drugs are more likely to become addicted to them than young people who first try these drugs when they are of college age, according to a new analysis of federal data, according to a new analysis of federal data. more.
Research suggests that young people may be particularly vulnerable to the intoxicating effects of certain drugs and that early exposure may make their brains crave them. The findings have implications for public health policymakers, who in recent years have called for increased screening and preventative measures to reverse the sharp rise in adolescent marijuana vaping.
The new study, published in JAMA Pediatrics and led by a team of scientists from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, aimed to better understand how adolescent brains respond to a variety of recreational drugs. Previous research suggested that early exposure to marijuana, nicotine, and alcohol could lead to a more rapid development of substance use disorders. But the new analysis has cast a wider net, examining the effects of nine different drugs, including opioid pain relievers, stimulants, marijuana, alcohol, cigarettes, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and tranquilizers. .
The researchers used data from the government’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a closely monitored annual study that tracks substance use and mental health problems among Americans. The new research focused on two age groups: adolescents aged 12 to 17 and young adults aged 18 to 25. Alcohol was by far the most commonly used substance in both groups: a quarter of teens and 80% of young adults said they had used it. About half of young adults said they had tried cannabis or tobacco. But among adolescents, the number was lower: around 15% said they had experimented with cannabis and 13% said they had tried tobacco.
Most troubling for the authors of the new study was the number of people who developed a substance use disorder, indicating that their experience had turned into addiction. Researchers found that within a year of trying marijuana for the first time, 11% of teens had become addicted to it, compared to 6.4% of young adults. Even more strikingly, three years after trying the drug for the first time, 20% of adolescents have become addicted, almost double the number of young adults.
Teens who tried prescription drugs were also more likely to become addicted. About 14 percent of teens who took prescription stimulants recreationally developed a substance use disorder within a year, compared to just 4 percent of young adults. And while 7% of young adults who tried opioid pain relievers became addicted soon after taking them, that figure rose to 11.2% among young users.
However, for alcohol and tobacco, there was not much difference between the two age groups: older and younger youth had a similar rate of developing a substance use disorder. And for illicit drugs such as cocaine and heroin, the number of adolescents using them was too small for researchers to draw meaningful conclusions.
One possible explanation for the results is that young people who have a greater predisposition to develop addiction may be more likely to seek illicit drugs at an earlier age. But Dr Nora Volkow, lead author of the new study and director of NIDA, said cannabis and other drugs have been known to have a powerful effect on adolescent brains because they are still developing. Younger brains exhibit greater plasticity, or the ability to change, than the relatively static brains of older individuals. As a result, drugs like cannabis are more likely to alter synaptic connections in younger brains, resulting in stronger memories of pleasure and reward.
“It’s a learning process when you become addicted,” said Dr Volkow. “It’s a type of memory that’s hardwired into your brain. It happens much faster in the brain of a teenager. “
Studies show that regular marijuana use can affect cognition in adolescents, leading to impairments in parts of the brain involved in learning, reasoning, and attention. Yet in recent years, the growing popularity of e-cigarettes has led to a surge in the number of teens vaping nicotine and marijuana, a trend that has alarmed public health officials. Some studies suggest that teens may also be more likely to try marijuana, as more states legalize its recreational use.
Dr Volkow said that as states implement new marijuana regulations, policymakers should work on measures to protect teens. She stressed that pediatricians and dentists should screen their young patients for drug use by asking them about it. And she warned parents not to dismiss teenage and adolescent marijuana use as harmless.
“When it comes to marijuana, the drugs that were available when parents were teenagers today are very different from the drugs that are available now,” she said. “The THC content is much higher, and the higher the THC content, the greater the risk of side effects.”
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