Opinion | Today’s Weed Is Way Too Dangerous for Teens

My patient was 14 years old the first time his grandmother drove him two hours to my clinic. He told me he tried weed when he was 8 and had been smoking or vaping it daily since he was 12, often using highly concentrated products purchased from friends or dealers. “It helps me relax,” said the patient, who moved in with his grandmother after his mother died and his father was incarcerated.

His life told a different story. Now 16, this young man struggles with persistent depression, failing grades and escalating anger. He had punched holes in walls, been suspended from school and was hospitalized for suicidal thoughts. He’s one of many teens I treat whose use of highly potent cannabis has become a destructive force in their lives.

Americans have been using cannabis for generations, but today the drug is more available, more socially accepted and far more potent than ever. Legalization and decriminalization have brought about rapid changes in the marketplace, and dispensaries around the country now sell plant buds alongside highly concentrated vape cartridges, gummies, edibles, waxes and beverages infused with the psychoactive compound THC. These newer products are specifically engineered to deliver THC in ways that are often more convenient and discreet than smoking cannabis. That shift is especially concerning for adolescents, whose brains are still developing and are more vulnerable to the effects of repeated exposure to high levels of THC.

A few decades ago, the typical cannabis plant contained 2 to 5 percent THC, and the more potent products averaged around 10 percent. Today’s cannabis bud products often contain 20 percent THC, while cartridges and concentrates can exceed 70 percent THC. This means the one in four high school seniors who reported experimenting with cannabis in 2025 almost certainly used it in a much more potent form than many people of a previous generation did growing up. And policymakers have done little to protect them.

We need a shift in how we regulate cannabis to account for the fact that it is not a uniform product. America’s experience with alcohol and tobacco can be instructive. With the help of regulation, public education and changes to how alcohol was taxed, Americans learned that grain alcohol, whiskey and beer carry different risks. With the help of tobacco control, cigarette sales plummeted and the United States made big strides in public health. The same can be true one day for cannabis.

Cannabis products did not become more potent overnight. Advances in agricultural science allowed breeders to create cannabis strains with ever higher THC concentrations. At the same time, innovations in vaping technology made these high potency products without the smell or smoke of cannabis. Market forces accelerated this trend. Higher potency products command higher prices and profit margins, creating strong financial incentives for the cannabis industry to push THC levels upward. Once people use the products daily, they might struggle with significant withdrawal symptoms if they don’t use, which drives them back to the dispensary.

In homes, schools and clinics, the consequences of this new marketplace are increasingly visible. Doctors like me who treat children and adolescents are seeing more patients for cannabis-related reasons, including conditions such as cannabis use disorder and cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, which causes nausea, vomiting and severe stomach pain. Those patients also can have severe withdrawal related complications and psychiatric symptoms including psychosis, depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. The causes of these conditions are complex. But the severity and frequency of these cases are rising, and we have limited tools for prevention and treatment.

A growing body of research suggests that adolescent cannabis use can also affect attention, memory, processing speed and executive function, which are all essential for success in school. These findings are particularly relevant given the unique way THC is metabolized: Unlike alcohol, which is rapidly cleared from the body, THC is stored in fatty tissues and released gradually over time. Adolescents who are using potent cannabis regularly have higher levels of THC in their bodies — a form of prolonged exposure not seen in previous generations. That suggests the cognitive challenges blockociated with cannabis will only worsen.

Stress, trauma and other underlying challenges clearly contribute to adolescent cannabis use and its mental health consequences, but we cannot treat our way out of an environment saturated with increasingly potent THC products.

The safest choice for adolescents is to not use cannabis at all. For those who will experiment regardless, the risk should not be amplified by cannabis producers racing to increase the potency of THC in their products.

One way to reduce harm is better regulation. A balanced approach would prioritize safety without abandoning the broader goals of legalization, such as reducing racial disparities in criminal enforcement, eliminating illicit markets, providing adults with safe products and generating tax revenue. Because cannabis is still illegal at the federal level, it’s on the states to step up their regulation.

First, states should establish THC potency caps. Alcohol policy offers a useful parallel. Beer, wine and hard liquor are regulated and taxed differently based on strength. Cannabis should be treated similarly.

While the precise cap on THC requires further study, requiring growers to lower the potency to the levels in cannabis products that existed in the 1990s — for example, capping THC at 5 percent for bud products — is a good starting point. Such a reduction would benefit adults, too, especially since daily or near daily cannabis users in the United States now outnumber both daily or near daily cigarette smokers and daily or near daily alcohol drinkers.

Second, labeling and dosing must be standardized across states. Right now, some states require mental health warnings on cannabis products, but most do not and there is no consistency in what information appears on the labels and how prominently it is displayed. Labeling should also include health warnings similar to those on tobacco products, informing consumers about the risk of dependence, the dangers of use during pregnancy, the risks of impaired driving and the heightened vulnerability of young people’s developing brains.

Third, we must invest in research. We need better data on thresholds for risk at the population level, as well as more prevention and treatment interventions for adolescents. Fourth, public health messaging must evolve to create awareness about potency and harm.

These steps must be taken with care. Overly restrictive policies risk fueling illicit markets, which can disproportionately harm marginalized communities.

Adolescents who obtain cannabis illegally will use whatever products they can find, but health policy, when done well, can reduce risk for most people. We do not expect age restrictions, proof of purchase requirements or regulations of alcohol strength to stop all underage drinking, yet those measures have proven to be worthwhile.

The conversation about cannabis in America is no longer just about its legality. The question now is whether we are willing to regulate and enforce product safety, especially to protect the most vulnerable among us. Right now, the answer is no.