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For students like Sophie Palmer, a fourth-year criminology student, cannabis use has become a normal part of life. She and her roommates have multiple ways to consume it, from dab pens to bongs and pre-rolls.
“There’s kind of nothing better than coming home, taking a blinker, and just being happy for 10 minutes straight,” says Palmer.
Canada marked its six-year anniversary of cannabis legalization in October. Since then, dispensaries have become a staple across the country. According to a 2023 report by the Ontario Cannabis Store, 88 per cent of Ontario’s adult population is served by the thousands of authorized cannabis stores across the province.
While Palmer initially started with edibles the summer before university, her consumption increased once she got to school.
“I definitely smoke a lot more when I’m at school,” Palmer says. “But when I go home, I work crazy hours, so I’m not smoking as much.”
While cannabis use has become a norm, there are still concerns with specific methods of consumption — like dab pens — and cannabis’ long-term effects on developing brains and vulnerable populations.
Jibran Khokhar, an associate professor in the department of anatomy and cell biology at the Schulich School of Medicine, is a neuroscientist and neuropharmacologist. In his lab, he investigates the brain’s unique vulnerabilities to substance use, the effects of drugs on genetic and environmental factors and the risk of substance abuse among individuals with mental illness.
Khokhar explains that cannabis use typically starts during adolescence, usually around the ages of 11 to 15. This period is significant as the brain is still developing considerably, with the rear brain — the rational part — continuing to mature until around 25.
During this time, external factors like cannabis use can influence the brain’s growth and alter its direction.
“It may have effects that then are long-lasting and can change that trajectory of the growing brain,” says Khokhar.
Research has linked adolescent cannabis use to increased risks of developing substance use disorders and experiencing mental health issues such as anxiety, schizophrenia or depression. Cannabis use has also been connected to declines in cognitive functions, including IQ and working memory.
Khokhar’s research reveals that even high-CBD, low-THC cannabis strains — types of cannabis people often use to relax and reduce anxiety — can cause lasting changes in learning and IQ. This suggests that weed has long-lasting effects — regardless of the amount of consumption.
Palmer, who used a dab pen almost daily, has noticed changes in her cognitive abilities.
“My memory isn’t so good,” she admits. “Sometimes I just can’t think of the right word to say. I know it, but I just can’t get it out, and it’s frustrating.”
There are different studies on the relationship between cannabis use and mental health disorders. But as Khokhar explains, the issue is that these studies are conducted on humans, making them association studies. This means they cannot necessarily determine whether cannabis use directly causes mental health disorders.
This creates uncertainty about whether cannabis played a role in developing these conditions or if the people using them would have developed them on their own in the first place.
In the lab, Khohkar is addressing this by creating animal models to assess those relationships.
For years, animals have been injected with THC, nicotine and ethanol to examine their effects on the developing brain. But these studies don’t account for newer forms of cannabis consumption, like vaping and edibles.
In their lab, researchers have been using products similar to what people use — cannabis from stores and vapes — to look at the effects of cannabis vapour on adolescent brain development.
“Vaping is a newer phenomenon, but now it’s almost neck and neck with smoking cannabis and is really emerging as a root of administration, and we’ve seen an increase in the amount of vaping,” says Khokhar.
For Palmer, cannabis use is often about convenience. Dab pens, which vaporize concentrated THC, are easy to use and discreet. This makes them a go-to choice, especially during the school year.
“The good thing about the dab pen is it’s convenient, so I can hit it once however much I need to get the amount that I want,” says Palmer.
Unlike joints or bongs, it’s harder to know how much weed you’re consuming with cartridges.
“The faster a drug gets to your brain, the faster it hits you. The faster it acts, the greater the abuse liability of the drug and the addictive potential of that,” says Khokhar.
Palmer has experienced this firsthand. While she enjoys the convenience of a dab pen, she recognizes that it’s easy to rely on it.
“I know multiple friends who’ve gotten one, and then they just spend all day high,” she says. “It can be bad, but being able to control yourself with it is the most important thing.”
Khokhar believes that cannabis legalization addressed important issues like reducing drug-related incarceration amongst minority groups — but its rollout in Ontario had flaws.
For example, Quebec’s stricter edible regulations prevent it from being sweet or coloured, leading to fewer cases of marijuana poisoning among children — something Ontario lacks.
While much is known about cannabis, many questions remain. Khokhar says research still needs to be done on emerging methods like shatter dabs, as well as prenatal exposure and sex differences.
“One goal for us in the lab will be to see if when we’ve established what these long-term changes are in the brain,” says Khokhar. “Maybe we can see if there’s a way to reverse some of these changes. That would be the goal for a lot of the research.”
”}]] Weed, pot, grass — whatever you call it — cannabis use has become more accessible than ever. But is it really as harmless as it’s made out to be? Read More
