Although several studies have linked adolescent cannabis use to psychiatric symptoms, few have examined its association with clinically diagnosed psychiatric disorders. To address this gap, a large US cohort study of 463,396 adolescents evaluated the relationship between past-year cannabis use and incident psychiatric disorders. At baseline, 5.7% (26,345) of adolescents reported cannabis use in the past year.
Cannabis use was associated with a higher risk of incident psychotic (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 2.19), bipolar (aHR, 2.01), depressive (aHR, 1.34), and anxiety (aHR, 1.24) disorders. The associations with depressive and anxiety disorders weakened as adolescents grew older. Overall, adolescent cannabis use was linked to an increased risk of developing psychiatric disorders, underscoring the importance of awareness among parents, adolescents, and clinicians, as well as policies…
