At the top of many parents’ concerns is their children turning to drug use. While cannabis might not seem like the most serious drug, it’s a widely held misconception that the drug is completely harmless.
In fact, the drug has many negative impacts on physical and mental health, and it can begin the onset of a variety of mental health conditions.
Cannabis is also widely known to be a potent gateway drug. This means that even if you aren’t concerned about the use of cannabis, people often begin by using cannabis before going on to use harder drugs like cocaine and heroin.
Some harder drugs, like heroin, come with a direct risk of death from overdose, as well as other issues with addiction.
Therefore, it is prudent to be mindful of cannabis as a potential threat to your child, and their development. For this reason, many parents are keen to know if their child is using cannabis.
Cannabis comes from the leaves of the plant Cannabis Sativa. It contains the psychoactive compound THC, as well as the cannabinoid CBD. It causes a high when ingested, and that high has been compared to feeling drunk.
Cannabis can be taken in a manner of ways. Most commonly, the drug is smoked. The dried leaves of cannabis are often rolled into a cigarette, or smoked in a bong.
Equally, cannabis can be baked into food and eaten. Usually, it will be baked into a sweet treat like a cake or brownie.
Unfortunately for parents, cannabis use is beginning earlier in a person’s life.
By the age of 17, almost a third of children say that they have used cannabis once or continue to use it regularly. Plenty of high schools have students within them who sell drugs to other students, supporting the early use of cannabis.
Cannabis is also widely used by children and young teenagers in social situations like parties, where it is shared around among social groups.
Thanks to a variety of these factors coming together, research has shown that cannabis use can begin as early in a person’s life as the age of 12.
The earlier a person begins their use of cannabis, the more likely they are to develop an addiction to the drug, as well as having an increased risk of stunted development of key areas of the brain: the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex.
Cannabis is the most commonly used, and bought, illicit drug in the UK. In the UK alone, cannabis sales are estimated to be around £2.6 billion a year, with over 200 tonnes worth of the drug distributed to people across the country.
This means that cannabis is highly available to almost anyone in the country, but especially in cities and urban areas. Drug dealers are often young people themselves, meaning that they have connections to schools and children as young as 12.
Therefore, it isn’t difficult for a child to buy cannabis if they are determined to and they have enough money, due to how high the availability is for the drug.
Attitudes are changing about cannabis use, and it is slowly becoming viewed less as an illegal drug, and more like something akin to alcohol. This is especially the case among younger populations, who often see the drug as a normal part of social life.
Indeed, even in politics, there is an acknowledgement that there is an argument for the legalisation, or decriminalisation, of cannabis. This would allow the market for the drug to be regulated, resulting in a better, more reliable product.
These changing attitudes don’t mean that cannabis shouldn’t be taken less seriously, however. Like alcohol, the drug does have a hugely detrimental impact on communities when the substance is abused.
It is one of the leading causes of addiction in the UK and is strongly linked to depression, and other mental health conditions.
If you’re a parent, you might want a comprehensive guide to the risks of cannabis, and how this relates to your child.
Firstly, the risk of addiction is more significant among children than it is among adults. The earlier cannabis use begins, the more likely it is that a person will become addicted to the drug due to still being in a stage of cognitive development.
Cannabis use can also have a hugely detrimental impact on a child’s academic performance, and it is associated with lower grades and higher dropout rates.
Partly, this is because the drug impacts a young person’s ability to make effective decisions because how it stunts the growth of the prefrontal cortex.
It’s also because a drop in motivation is linked to cannabis use, and cannabis has also been strongly related to a significant drop in IQ among populations of young people who regularly use the drug.
Cannabis can also affect a child’s short-term and long-term memory. One of the impacts of taking cannabis is the reduced ability to form short-term memories while experiencing the high, though this symptom fades as the cannabis passes out of the body.
Persistent use of the drug throughout younger years, while the brain is still developing, is linked with a decline in long-term memory in adulthood, due to how cannabis impacts the growth of the hippocampus.
The evidence for the links between cannabis and depression are less clear, but there is strong evidence to suggest that there is a relationship between the two and that people who use cannabis are more likely to develop suicidal thoughts than people who don’t use cannabis.
Spotting if your child is high on cannabis shouldn’t be too difficult if you can observe and speak to them while you believe them to be high.
This is because there are some clear symptoms and signs of cannabis-induced high:
However, if your child is using cannabis but they’re not high when you confront them, there are other, longer-term giveaway signs.
Cannabis has many complex impacts on a person, and these can be especially pronounced on a child or teenager.
Among the impacts that researchers understand the least is how cannabis changes mood and personality.
Cannabis use can make a person erratic, and they can experience previously uncommon mood swings. It can also cause a drop in motivation, which will make a person appear disinterested and lazy.
One of the consequences of this, which can be observed in people who regularly use the drug, is a deterioration of important social relationships, and social withdrawal more broadly.
The general lack of interest can also manifest itself in a decline in personal grooming and hygiene.
If you observe any of these changes to mood, personality, and behaviour building up over a period of time, it is worth considering whether or not you believe your child has been using cannabis.
If you believe that your child might be using cannabis, it is worth keeping an eye open for signs of drug-related paraphernalia. This is because, if your child is using cannabis, there is usually some equipment that is required.
Keep an eye out for items that might be hidden in drawers, under clothes, or under beds. These could be something large, like a bong, or smaller, like a herb grinder.
Herb grinders are used to store cannabis buds and grind them down to the size where they can be placed in a cigarette. You’ll also want to be on the lookout for pipes and rolling papers.
If your child isn’t storing specifically drug-related equipment at your home, there might still be smaller clues. Look for remnants of ash on clothes, a larger-than-normal supply of deodorant, and lighters in pockets.
You might also want to take a greater interest in your child’s social life, and who they’re maintaining friendships with if you suspect that they might be using cannabis.
In order to get to know their friends better, put yourself forward as a mode of transport if they need to get to an event, or a party. This way, you can talk to their friends in a natural way while learning more about them.
If then you feel like your child’s friends might be facilitating their suspected drug use, have an open conversation about the topic with your child.
Lay all the cards onto the table, and let them know that you’re concerned about them. If you’re direct, and open, without coming across as judgemental, your child might entertain the idea of having a conversation about the topic with you.
It’s almost always the case that a child will do their very best to hide the evidence of their drug use from you, as their parent. This is because they won’t want to get into trouble, and they won’t want to have a conversation about their drug use with you.
Due to this, it’s useful to know the common ways in which children will often hide their cannabis use.
Cannabis has a very strong and distinctive smell. If they are storing the drug in their room or using it in their room, they may try to mask that smell. Often this is done with incense.
If you notice that your child is using incense much more than normal (or has begun to use it) ask them why, and keep a note of other indicative behaviours too.
Similarly, you may notice that your child is using more deodorant than usual or chewing mint-smelling chewing gum more than usual. These are both ways to mask the smell of cannabis that lingers on the body and clothes after use.
The redness of the eyes that is caused by cannabis use can be reduced by the use of eye drops. If your child begins to use eye drops this should alert you that something drug-related could be going on.
If you are almost certain that your child is using cannabis, but you can’t find any concrete evidence, there is always the option of a drug test.
Using a urine sample will detect the presence of cannabis in the body, which typically lasts up to 48 hours after use of the drug.
However, do not take this step lightly. Forcing your child to take a drug test can take a toll on your relationship, and it can make them feel like you don’t trust them. Try all other options first, ideally having an open and frank conversation.
[1] Cannabis and depression
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33332004/
[2] Effects of cannabis on the adolescent brain
Boris is our editor-in-chief at Rehab 4 Addiction. Boris is an addiction expert with more than 20 years in the field. His expertise covers a broad of topics relating to addiction, rehab and recovery. Boris is an addiction therapist and assists in the alcohol detox and rehab process. Boris has been featured on a variety of websites, including the BBC, Verywell Mind and Healthline. You can connect with Boris online at LinkedIn or X.com.
