Posted on December 31, 2009

Cannabis continues to be a drug in high demand and the best resources of customers is that of Canadian teenagers. This group of individuals are the largest consumers of cannabis the world over, but that isn’t the worst aspect of the news. According to a new study, the damaging effects on young brains are worse than originally thought.

Science Daily recently summarized this study conducted by Dr. Gabriella Gobbi, a psychiatric researcher from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center. This new study suggests that daily consumption of cannabis in teens can cause depression and anxiety, while it can also have an irreversible long-term effect on the brain.

"We wanted to know what happens in the brains of teenagers when they use cannabis and whether they are more susceptible to its neurological effects than adults," explained Dr. Gobbi, who is also a professor at McGill University.

Gobbi’s study points to an apparent action of cannabis on two important compounds in the brain, serotonin and norepinephrine. Both compounds are involved in the regulation of neurological functions such as mood control and anxiety.

"Teenagers who are exposed to cannabis have decreased serotonin transmission, which leads to mood disorders, as well as increased norepinephrine transmission, which leads to greater long-term susceptibility to stress," Dr. Gobbi stated.

Previous studies into this area proved that cannabis consumption can affect behavior in some teenagers. This latest study is one of the first to actually focus on the neurobiological mechanisms at the root of this influence of cannabis on depression and anxiety in adolescents.