The proportion of 11-15 year olds in England who had used cannabis in the last year fell from 13.3% in 2003 to 7% in 2013. The proportion of 16-59 year olds using cannabis in the last year has fallen from 10.6% in 2003-4 to 6.6% in 2013-14.

How Cannabis Makes You Feel

The effects of cannabis vary from person to person:

• Some people may feel chilled out, relaxed and happy
• Others get the giggles or become more talkative
• Hunger pangs are common – this is sometimes known as ‘getting the munchies’
• You may become more aware of your senses – colours may look more intense and music may sound better
• It’s common to feel as though time is slowing down

Cannabis can have other effects too:

• It makes some people feel faint and/or sick – this is sometimes known as a ‘whitey’
• It can make you feel sleepy and lethargic
• Some people find it affects their memory, making it harder to remember things
• It makes some people feel confused, anxious or paranoid, and some experience panic attacks and hallucinations. These effects are particularly common with stronger forms of cannabis, such as skunk and sinsemilla

If you use cannabis regularly it can make you demotivated and disinterested in other things going on in your life, such as education or work. Long-term use can affect your ability to learn and to concentrate.

Can You Get Addicted to Cannabis?

In the past cannabis wasn’t thought to be addictive. However, research has shown that it can be addictive, particularly if you have been using it regularly for quite a while. About 10% of regular cannabis users are thought to become dependent.

As with other addictive drugs such as cocaine and heroin, you can develop a tolerance to it. This means you have to have more and more to get the same effects. If you stop taking it, you can experience withdrawal symptoms, such as cravings, difficulty sleeping, mood swings, irritability and restlessness.

If you regularly smoke cannabis with tobacco, you’re likely to get addicted to nicotine and may develop tobacco-related illnesses. If you cut down or give up, you will experience withdrawal from nicotine as well as cannabis.

Risks Associated with Cannabis

Recent research has helped us better understand the health risks from using cannabis. We know that:

• Cannabis affects your ability to drive. This is one of the reasons why drug driving, like drink driving, is illegal. One French study found that drivers who had been using cannabis were more than twice as likely to cause a fatal car crash.
• If you smoke it, cannabis can be harmful to your lungs. Like tobacco, it contains cancer-causing chemicals (carcinogens) that increase your risk of lung cancer. It can also make asthma worse, and cause wheezing in people without asthma. If you mix cannabis with tobacco and smoke it, the risks to your lungs are higher.
• Cannabis can harm your mental health. Regular use is associated with an increased risk of developing a psychotic illness, such as schizophrenia. A psychotic illness is one where you experience hallucinations (when you see things that aren’t really there) and delusions (when you believe things that aren’t really true). Your risk of developing a psychotic illness is higher if you start using cannabis in your teens and if you have a family history of mental illness. Cannabis use has also been shown to increase the risk of a relapse in people who have schizophrenia, and could make existing symptoms worse.
• Cannabis may affect your fertility. Research done in animals suggests that cannabis can disrupt sperm production in males and ovulation in females.
• If you are pregnant, cannabis may harm your unborn baby. Research suggests that using cannabis during pregnancy could affect your baby’s brain development. Regularly smoking cannabis with tobacco is associated with an increased risk of your baby being born small or premature.

Does My Age Affect My Risks?

The risks linked to using cannabis do seem to be higher for people who use it regularly from an early age, including the risk of developing a mental illness.

It’s not clear why the risks are higher for people who start using cannabis when young. It may be linked to the fact that, during the teenage years, the brain is still forming its connections and cannabis interferes with this process.

Does Cannabis have Medicinal Benefits?

Herbal cannabis contains many different compounds, called cannabinoids, which have different effects. One of these cannabinoids – tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC for short – is the active ingredient of a prescribed drug called Sativex. Currently this is only licensed in the UK as a treatment to relieve the pain of muscle spasms in multiple sclerosis.

Further research is underway to test the effectiveness of cannabis-based drugs for a range of other conditions including the eye disease glaucoma, appetite loss in people with HIV or Aids, epilepsy in children and pain associated with cancer. We won’t know whether or not these treatments are effective until trials have concluded.

See more on clinical trials involving cannabis.

Does Cannabis Lead to Other Drugs?

While most people who use harder drugs like heroin have used cannabis, only a small proportion of people who use cannabis go on to use hard drugs. However, buying cannabis brings you into contact with the illegal drugs trade, making it more likely that you will be exposed to other drugs.

Where Can I Get More Information About Cannabis?

You’ll find more information about cannabis in the Frank website’s A-Z of drugs.

If you need support with giving up cannabis, you’ll find sources of help in Drugs: where to get help.

Cannabis is the most widely used illegal drug in Britain (*also in the US). Find out about the health risks associated with its use.

There are several health risks associated with cannabis use, including dependency problems, mental health problems and lung damage.

The Effects of Cannabis

The effects of cannabis vary:

• Some people may feel chilled out, relaxed and happy, while others have one puff and feel sick.
• Others get the giggles and may become talkative.
• Hunger pangs are common and are known as ‘getting the munchies’.
• Users may become more aware of their senses or feel that time is slowing down. These feelings are due to its hallucinogenic effects.
• A stronger joint (typically when skunk or sinsemilla is used) may have more powerful effects. Some users may moderate these effects by using less cannabis. Others may find it becomes tempting to binge smoke.

Getting Hooked on Cannabis

As with other drugs, dependence on cannabis is influenced by a number of factors, including how long you’ve been using it, how much you use and whether you are more prone to becoming dependent.

You may find you have difficulty stopping regular use, and you may experience psychological and physical withdrawal symptoms when you do stop. Withdrawal symptoms can include cravings for cannabis, irritability, mood changes, appetite disturbance, weight loss, difficulty sleeping and, in some people, sweating, shaking and diarrhoea.

If you’ve only been using for a short while there should be no problem stopping, but after continued regular use of cannabis, stopping can become more difficult. You’re also at risk of getting addicted to nicotine if you roll your spliffs with tobacco.

Risks Associated with Cannabis

The following risks are associated with cannabis use:

• Even hardcore smokers can become anxious, panicky, suspicious or paranoid.
• Cannabis affects your co-ordination, which is one of the reasons why drug driving, like drink driving, is illegal.
• Some people think cannabis is harmless because it’s a plant, but it isn’t harmless. Cannabis, like tobacco, has lots of chemical ‘nasties’, which, with long-term or heavy use, can cause lung disease and possibly cancer. The risk is greater because cannabis is often mixed with tobacco and smoked without a filter. It can also make asthma worse, and cause wheezing in people without asthma.
• Cannabis itself can affect many different systems in the body, including the heart. It increases the heart rate and can affect blood pressure.
• If you have a history of mental health problems, taking cannabis is not a good idea. It can cause paranoia in the short term, but in those with a pre-existing psychotic illness, such as schizophrenia, it can contribute to relapse.
• If you use cannabis and have a family background of mental illness, such as schizophrenia, you may be at increased risk of developing a psychotic illness.
• It is reported that frequent use of cannabis can cut a man’s sperm count and reduce sperm motility. It can suppress ovulation in women and so may affect fertility.
• If you’re pregnant, smoking cannabis frequently may increase the risk of the baby being born smaller than expected.
• Regular, heavy use of cannabis makes it difficult to learn and concentrate. Some people begin to feel tired all the time and can’t seem to get motivated.
• Some users buy strong herbal cannabis (also known as skunk) to get ‘a bigger high’. Unpleasant reactions can be more powerful when you use strong cannabis, and it is possible that using strong cannabis repeatedly could increase the risk of harmful effects such as dependence or developing mental health problems.

Further Information

For more information on cannabis and the different forms it comes in, see the cannabis section in the Frank website’s A-Z of drugs.

Getting Help if You Use Cannabis

There are several sources of support if you or someone you know has a problem with drugs. Find out more in Drugs: where to get help.

Editor’s Note: *clarification provided for our US readers.

• Partnership for Drug-Free Kids
• SAMHSA.gov

It can be difficult to talk about drugs with your kids, but a few key pointers can make it a whole lot easier. Use these tips to help you talk openly about drugs with your child.

1. Do Your Homework
Make sure you understand enough about drugs, including why your child might experiment with them, so you can talk to your child in an informed way. Understanding the facts about drugs will also help you keep calm in a crisis.

Get your information from reliable, credible sources such as the drugs website FRANK. In the US, the National Institute on Drug Abuse website has detailed information on Commonly Abused Drugs.*

2. Pick a Good Time
Don’t do it before they rush off to school. Or, if they are using drugs, don’t confront them when they’re high on drugs.

3. Take the Opportunities to Talk When They Arise
It may help to do it when the subject comes up during TV programmes or in the news. Mealtimes can also be a good forum for discussion.

4. Let Them Know Your Values and Boundaries
It’s important for your children to know where you stand on drug taking. Be clear about your opinions on drugs so that they know your boundaries.

5. It’s Never Too Early to Talk About Drugs
It’s a good idea to start talking about the issue before they start experimenting with drugs. Make them feel strong and independent enough to be able to say no.

6. Avoid Scare Tactics
Your teenage children often know more people who take drugs than you do, so there’s no point in saying, “Smoking cannabis will kill you”. But if you point out that cannabis can cause mental health problems and make people forgetful and unmotivated, that will seem realistic to them and be more of a deterrent.

7. Know Their Friends
Peer pressure is the single most powerful factor in determining whether or not your child will take drugs. Get to know their friends. Invite them to the house and take an interest in what’s going on in their lives. If you have good reason to think your child’s friends are involved in drugs, you may need to support your child to find a new circle of friends.

8. Let Them Know You’re Always There for Them
That way they can be honest with you about what they’re up to and they won’t just tell you what they think you want to hear.

9. Listen as Well as Talk
Talking to teenagers can be hard. When you’re discussing drugs, don’t preach or give a speech and don’t make assumptions about what they know or do. Let your child tell you about his or her experiences. It’s often easier not to talk face-to-face, but to have a conversation side-by-side, such as when you’re driving in the car, washing up together or preparing food.

10. Persevere
Don’t be provoked or put off talking if they argue, get embarrassed or storm off. Parents’ opinions matter to their children. Revisit the subject when they’ve calmed down.

11. Make Sure They Know that the Responsibility for Their Actions Rests With Them
You’re trying to help your child make good choices in life about drugs. But only they can say no to drugs. Be sure they know you support them, but emphasise that it’s up to them to make the positive decision to be drug free.

12. Be Realistic
It’s common for teenagers to experiment with drugs. Remember that only a small proportion of those who experiment will develop a drug problem.

13. Don’t Panic
If you find out that your child has tried drugs, your first reaction may be anger or panic. Wait until you’re calm before discussing it with them, and do so in a way that shows your love and concern rather than anger.

Getting Help
If your child is using drugs and you are worried, find out about the help available in Drugs: where to get help. In the US, see the resources on the website of the Office of Adolescent Health (from the Dept. of Health and Human Services) – and “Above the Influence“, a website on drug use specifically for teens.*

Get Support for Yourself
If your child has drug problems, get support for yourself. Lots of organisations offer support to parents and carers, including those below. In the US, see the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids.*

• Addaction
• Adfam
• Families Anonymous
• Family Lives