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The Truth About THC & Mental Health

You might have heard that using cannabis is harmless. But in fact this drug can be extremely dangerous. Here’s what you need to know. 

October 2024
Ellen Song

Johnny’s parents gave this card to guests at his funeral.

Johnny Stack was 14 the first time he tried weed. He went to a party, where he inhaled it through a vape. For most of high school, Johnny had everything going for him. He was a popular teen with a group of great friends. He was active in his church and enjoyed playing sports. He was also a straight-A student with a 4.2 GPA. He even earned a perfect score of 800 on the math section of the SAT in his junior year. 

But by senior year Johnny’s parents started noticing changes in their son’s personality. Johnny had been using weed heavily for at least three years. His parents found concentrated forms of cannabis called shatter, wax, and dab in his room. He started getting D’s, and he couldn’t keep up in math class. 

Johnny became paranoid. He stopped giving presentations at school, convinced that everyone was talking about him. “He was buying burner phones at Target,” says Laura, Johnny’s mother. “He stopped trusting his iPhone, because he felt like people were spying on him through it.” 

After he left for college, Johnny started having suicidal thoughts. “He texted me that he felt like killing himself,” Laura says. “He said he had been dabbing (inhaling concentrated forms of cannabis through vapes and other devices) nonstop with his roommate for two weeks.” He was admitted to a psychiatric hospital, which is a hospital for people with severe mental health disorders. 

Johnny eventually was diagnosed with severe THC use. THC stands for tetrahydrocannabinol. It is the compound in cannabis that makes people feel high. Research has found that teens who use cannabis are two to four times more likely to develop mental health disorders like depression and suicidal thinking than teens who don’t use the drug. 

When Johnny learned that his cannabis use was possibly responsible for his mental health issues, he tried to quit. He enrolled in a different college. But soon he started smoking again to deal with the loneliness of a new school. A few months into the semester, he called his mom. “They bugged my room,” he said. Johnny was convinced that the FBI was listening to him. He went back to the hospital.

Stronger and More Dangerous

At this point you might be thinking, Wait a minute. Isn’t weed safe—even good for you? It’s true that cannabis is legal for adults to use in several states, and some doctors prescribe it for medical use. 

But just because some attitudes toward weed have become relaxed doesn’t mean it is always safe to use, especially for teens. 

What a lot of people don’t know is that the THC content in cannabis has increased massively over the past few decades. In the 1970s, cannabis contained less than 2 percent THC on average. Today, many products contain more than 10 times that amount. Some products have even been found to contain as much as 95 percent THC. 

The increased potency of these products makes them more likely to result in addiction. People who use cannabis heavily and then try to stop can experience increased anger, irritability, depression, loss of appetite, and trouble sleeping. They can also feel intense cravings for more of the drug.

THC Can Take Many Forms: Different cannabis products contain varying concentrations of THC.

Ella’s Story

Ella experienced psychosis when she was heavily using cannabis.

Ella, now 17, knows the dangers of cannabis addiction firsthand. She first tried weed in middle school, when a friend offered her an edible from her parents’ stash. At first, Ella only smoked and used weed in social settings. But over time, she started smoking and dabbing even when she was alone.

By the time she was 14, Ella was dabbing as often as every 30 minutes, usually in the school bathroom. “It kind of became a crutch for me,” she says. “Eventually, I had to smoke in order to do anything. I had to smoke so that I could eat, because I didn’t have an appetite for food unless I was high. I also couldn’t really go to sleep without using it.”

Ella started noticing other consequences. She found herself getting aggressive. She threatened to run away or hurt her family members. “I broke a lot of things,” she says. “My door is still a little messed up because I was just kicking it repeatedly.”

In addition, Ella also started seeing and hearing things that weren’t there. “I became really paranoid,” she says. “I thought there were people in my backyard coming to get me through the dog door. I was freaking out.”

Experiencing Psychosis

In these moments, Ella was experiencing psychosis. “Psychosis is a general medical term for when a person has a hard time telling the difference between what’s real and not real,” says Michelle West. She’s a psychologist who specializes in helping teens and young adults manage psychosis. 

A common psychosis experience is the feeling that your eyes, ears, and mind are playing tricks on you. Paranoia is also a common symptom. Psychosis can vary from mild to extreme.

People can experience psychosis for many reasons. But new studies have found that frequent cannabis use can make experiences of psychosis more severe or intense for some people, especially for those who have a genetic history of mental illness. A 2023 study from Denmark suggests that up to 30 percent of psychosis diagnoses in young men could have been prevented if they had not used marijuana heavily. 

That doesn’t mean that smoking weed will cause psychosis in everyone. But, according to West, if you’re vulnerable to psychosis to begin with and you add weed to the mix, it could make your condition worse. West says it’s also possible that weed can trigger mental health issues even in people who don’t have a genetic risk of mental illness. 

“Right now, we’re not very good at telling which young people are likely to develop psychosis after smoking weed,” says West. “But it does happen, so it’s a risk that young people should know about.” 

Johnny’s family had no history of mental illness. 

A Tragic Fall

Johnny’s parents can’t be totally sure of the cause of their son’s breaks from reality. But they believe that high-potency THC caused Johnny’s mental health issues. “I am completely convinced that if Johnny hadn’t used weed, he would not have developed a mental illness,” says Laura. “There was nothing in our family history, nothing in him personally, to indicate that he would have developed mental illness otherwise.” 

Johnny continued to struggle with his cannabis use after his second hospitalization. His psychosis also got worse. His parents believe he was experiencing an intense psychosis episode, brought on by high-potency weed, when he jumped off a building and died. Security camera footage from the area showed him moving his arms as though he was trying to fly. He was 19 years old.

Awareness Saves Lives

Today Laura wishes there had been more awareness of the risk of high-potency THC products when Johnny was alive. She says when he spent time at drug treatment centers, some other patients, struggling with “harder” substances like heroin, dismissed his problems. “They would say, ‘You’re just addicted to weed, man.’” Laura believes that a lack of understanding of the dangers of cannabis contributed to Johnny’s death. 

To honor Johnny’s memory, Laura founded a nonprofit organization, Johnny’s Ambassadors. The organization shares information and resources about cannabis addiction at school assemblies across the country. 

Ella celebrates being drug-free.

Sharing Her Experience

By the time Ella was seeking help for her addiction, more research about high-potency THC was available. Today Ella has been drug-free for more than a year, and she plans to attend cosmetology school after high school. Ella says it’s especially helpful for teens to hear directly from other teens who have dealt with addiction to cannabis products. 

“A lot of people still don’t know that weed can lead to psychosis,” she says. “They think, ‘That’s not going to happen to me.’ But it can happen, and it’s awful when it does.”

Cannabis Then and Now

Cannabis today contains more than 10 times as much THC on average as it did in the 1980s.

Source: NIDA Potency Monitoring Program, University of Mississippi

What Is Cannabis Use Disorder?

If you’re struggling with addiction to weed, otherwise known as cannabis use disorder (CUD), it means you are unable to stop using marijuana even though it’s causing you health and social problems.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, symptoms include: 

  • Using more cannabis than intended
  • Trying but failing to quit
  • Using cannabis even though it causes academic or social problems
  • Giving up activities with friends and family in favor of using cannabis
  • Using it in high-risk situations, such as while driving a car
  • Continuing to use cannabis despite physical or psychological problems
  • Experiencing cravings or withdrawal symptoms when stopping cannabis use


Think you might be experiencing CUD? Consider calling the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) at 1 (800) 662-HELP. If you are experiencing thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. 

Sources: nih.gov; dea.gov

QUIZ

Question Icon

True or false? Weed is safer than other drugs because it’s a plant.

FALSE! “You wouldn’t eat any random plant in the forest,” says psychologist Michelle West. Just because a substance can be found in nature doesn’t mean it’s safe. In addition, high-potency THC products like shatter are created using harsh chemicals.
Question Icon

True or false? Cannabis use is associated with increased suicide attempts in teens and young adults. 

TRUE! Multiple studies show a link between cannabis use and suicidal thoughts and attempts. Even people who used cannabis occasionally were more likely to have suicidal thoughts than those who didn’t use it at all. 
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