My sister K. and I used to think that guys from our days in high school could attribute any significant hair loss they’d suffered over the years to their use of THC while in high school and beyond. There’s not yet a strong correlation or body of evidence, but who knows…maybe we’re on to something.
We know that THC is addictive. There are both tolerance issues…where more THC is needed to affect the same high…and withdrawal issues…where not using causes anxiety and moodiness, among other behaviors.
This means we have a mood-altering substance that causes addiction, but it won’t kill anyone by overdose, so it’s perceived as harmless, but it really isn’t. The damage caused by THC to the young, underdeveloped brain is well documented, so I won’t belabor that, except to say that damage to the prefrontal cortex – the last part of the brain to fully develop – is dose-dependent, meaning the more THC use, the greater the damage. And, the risk of psychosis increases for a small fraction of users. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2023/01/30/marijuana-adolescent-brain-development/) Who? No one knows, so why risk it?
But what about adults? THC is “natural,” and they can’t overdose, so it must be safe, right? Wrong again.
First, let’s discuss addiction: 55 million people in the US are current THC users, which means that they used cannabis within the last year. I was shocked to learn that this number is greater than the number of those who smoke cigarettes in the US, which is closer to 28.3 million. (https://drugabusestatistics.org/marijuana-addiction/)
But the more alarming number is that 30% (16.5 million) of those who used THC in the last year – those 55 million people – are suffering from cannabis use disorder. That is, they are experiencing negative consequences from their use of THC. That’s 6% of the general population who suffer from cannabis use disorder…every 17th person you meet.
Why does that matter? Because THC isn’t harmless…even to adults. The American Journal of Psychiatry published a study in March 2022 of nearly 1,000 New Zealanders aged 3 to 45 to “understand the impact of cannabis use on brain function. The research team discovered that individuals who used cannabis long-term (for several years or more) and heavily (at least weekly, though a majority in their study used more than four times a week) exhibited impairments across several domains of cognition.”
The results are startling, starting with a 5.5 point decline in IQ in midlife relative to their childhood IQ. They also show poorer learning, memory, and processing speed…poorer even in comparison to long-term tobacco or alcohol users. Harmless, indeed.
I willingly accede that the report indicates that recreational use of cannabis for those in midlife indicates no cognitive deficits. That is, for those who are truly only recreational users of THC, there is little risk of negative cognitive deficits. IQ is likely to remain the same, and learning, memory, and processing speed will remain age appropriate. (https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.ajp.2021.21060664)
So what is “recreational use” of cannabis? Let’s refer back to the study: researchers followed individuals who were long-term (for several years or more) and heavy (at least weekly) users of cannabis. This means that WEEKLY use (or more) over several years is NOT recreational use; that’s considered HEAVY use.
Can people use THC recreationally? Sure…some can, but 30% of users cannot. That’s the 30% who have negative consequences from their use.
And what about the people who use only medical marijuana? They won’t have negative effects, right, because it’s medicine. JK. There’s absolutely no difference between medical marijuana and recreational marijuana. None. And just like every other mood-altering, addictive medication prescribed by a doctor, cannabis use can lead to problems.
Addiction is a brain disease, a chronic, progressive, lethal brain disease. The longer we pretend that THC isn’t harmful, the longer we pretend that not dying from a drug means that it’s safe, the longer we pretend that cannabis has no long-lasting negative consequences, the worse off we’ll be as a society. And, potentially, we’ll have more people with significantly thinning hair, too.
Guided by Guida 
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