The Hazards of High Potency THC Marijuana

Hazards of High Potency THC Marijuana

There have been a lot of endeavors to legalize marijuana despite its high THC content. THC is the component of marijuana that makes a person addicted to its use, and the person becomes compelled to buy it. The more potent forms of marijuana have taken over the market, and industries have made this a stunt to attract more and more customers.

The THC content of marijuana products sold in the past, before the 1990s, was less than 2%. But now, concentrated THC products such as oil, shatter, and edibles have been able to get the THC concentration upwards to 95%- concentration that has not been proved to be beneficial from a medical aspect. There was significant exposure to children and young age groups to marijuana since it was shaped in the image of different products of daily use¹. New regulations made it obligatory for all manufacturers to label cannabis packaging with a universal THC symbol indicating Marijuana content and should be kept away from children. Marijuana is the number one drug abused by eighth and twelfth graders, according to the 2014 Monitoring the Future Study².

Although portrayed as organic and healthy in Colorado, there are significant adverse effects of long-term heavy use of marijuana at the beginning of adolescence, a period of active brain development.

Effect on Learning:

The prefrontal portion of the brain takes about 25 to 30 years to fully mature. There is a significant increase in dopaminergic and glutamatergic stimulatory neurotransmitters during adolescence and a decrease in serotonergic and GABAergic suppressive neurotransmitters in this brain region. Marijuana addiction interferes with the learning and memory functions of the brain. All drugs follow the reward pathway, which states that all activities are done to gain pleasure or reward. Drugs of abuse cause a release of dopamine from the nucleus acumbens that signals and reinforces learning. At the same time, the memory center, the hippocampus, is negatively impacted. There is failure to learn new things by the chronic use of any addictive substance by decreasing neurogenesis in the hippocampus and shrinking the hippocampus. This effect is observed with alcohol, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, nicotine, and THC³.

Memory and Verbal Learning:

Human studies demonstrated shrinkage in the hypothalamus and amygdala and worsening of verbal learning with marijuana use. However, recovery is possible with the discontinuance of abuse⁴.

Disruption of Focus:

The other essential neurotransmitters active during adolescence include acetylcholine which helps us focus and concentrate by innervating the prefrontal motor cortex by binding to nicotinic receptors in the brain⁵. In comparison, endocannabinoids act on endocannabinergic receptors (CB1). These receptors are promoted or prevent neuronal cell death depending on the stage of brain development. Using an exogenous form of nicotine in the developing brain, e.g., tobacco can dysregulate these mechanisms during adolescence.

Disruption of Brain development:

CB1 receptors balance the excitatory and inhibitory activity by utilizing our natural anandamides. Exposure to cannabis disrupts glutamate, which plays an essential role in synaptic pruning in the prefrontal cortex, thus disrupting normal brain development.

Loss of Intelligence:

A study in New Zealand with a 20-year follow-up found an average loss of 8 IQ points with persistent teen use of marijuana⁷. In addition, a survey of Yale University students showed that those with an average GPA of 3.1 showed a loss of GPA to 2.66 by alcohol and marijuana use⁸.

Psychotic Symptoms:

Marijuana worsens many mental health problems, including anxiety, depression, psychosis, and suicidal ideation. In a prospective study in Australia, girls who use marijuana once a week were twice as likely to suffer from depression⁹. Cannabis use before the age of 15–18 increases the risk of developing psychotic symptoms¹⁰.

Not a treatment for PTSD:

An observational study followed 2,276 Veterans treated for PTSD and found that those who never used marijuana had significantly lower symptom severity four months after PTSD treatment¹¹.

 

Effects on Dentistry

Poor oral health:

Cannabis abusers have poorer oral health, higher plaque scores, and problematic gingiva¹². In addition, they have an increased risk of dental caries and periodontal diseases¹³.

Predisposition of Cancer:

Cannabis smoke acts as a carcinogen linked to dysplastic changes and pre-malignant lesions within the oral cavity. Marijuana-induced oral cancer usually occurs on the anterior floor of the mouth and the tongue¹⁴.

Oral Infections:

Cannabis users are also prone to oral infections due to the immunosuppressive effects of cannabis.

Mental Challenges during Dental Procedures:

Dental treatment on patients currently on cannabis can result in the patient experiencing acute anxiety, dysphoria, and psychotic-like paranoiac thoughts.

Heart irregularities:

The use of local anesthetics containing epinephrine can seriously prolong tachycardia which is already induced by an acute dose of cannabis.

Oral health care providers and dentists should keep in mind the many adverse effects of cannabis on general and oral health and incorporate questions about patients’ drug and cannabis use patterns in the medical history.

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References:

1. Wang GS, et al. Unintentional pediatric exposures to marijuana in Colorado, 2009–2015. JAMA Pediatr. 2016;170(9):e160971
2. University of Michigan. Monitoring the Future Study. 2014. http://www.monitoringthefuture.org/pubs/monographs/mtf-overview2014.pdf.
3. Chambers RA. Adult hippocampal neurogenesis in the pathogenesis of addiction and dual diagnosis disorders. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2013;130:1–12.
4. Regional brain abnormalities associated with long-term heavy cannabis use. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2008;65:694–701.
5. deBry SC, Tiffany ST. Tobacco-induced neurotoxicity of adolescent cognitive development (TINACD): A proposed model for the development of impulsivity in nicotine dependence. Nicotine & Tobacco Research. 2008;10:11–25.
6. Lubman, et al. Cannabis and adolescent brain development. Pharmacology and Therapeutics. 2015;148:1–16.
7. Meier MH, et al. Persistent cannabis users show neuropsychological decline from childhood to midlife. PNAS. 2012:E2657–E2664. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1206820109.
8. Meda SA, et al. Longitudinal influence of alcohol and marijuana use on academic performance in college students. PLOS ONE. 2017 Mar 8; doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0172213.
9. Patton GC, et al. Cannabis use and mental health in young people: cohort study. BMJ. 2002;325:1195–1198.
10. Pierre JM. Risks of increasingly potent Cannabis: the joint effects of potency and frequency. Current Psychiatry. 2017;16:14–20.
11. Wilkinson, et al. Marijuana use is associated with worse outcomes in symptom severity and violent behavior in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder. J Clin Psychology. 2015;76:9.
12. Darling, M. R., and T. M. Arendorf. “Review of the effects of cannabis smoking on oral health.” International dental journal 42.1 (1992): 19-22.
13. Darling, M. R., and T. M. Arendorf. “Effects of cannabis smoking on oral soft tissues.” Community dentistry and oral epidemiology 21.2 (1993): 78-81.
14. Firth, N. A. “Marijuana use and oral cancer: a review.” Oral oncology 33.6 (1997): 398-401.