Doctors who work with adolescents say some young people are self-medicating with cannabis, even though there’s no evidence it actually helps their symptoms.
Dr. Aishwarya Thakur, an adolescent addiction medicine physician at Children’s National Hospital in D.C., told WTOP that in the medical world people roughly 12 to 22 are considered adolescents.
Thakur noted that substance use “can start as early as 10, 11 or 12 years old.” She explained that although usage rates remain lower for those under 18, cannabis use rises “dramatically in the 18 to 25 age group.”
“We hear from adolescents often that they’re using cannabis to manage various symptoms, particularly related to menstrual‑related symptoms,” Thakur said.
“Whether that means pain, whether that means mood fluctuations.”
She cautioned that the science doesn’t support using cannabis to treat those issues and said the data shows it can lead to worse side effects, specifically in adolescents.
Thakur pointed to the fact that the potency of cannabis products is getting stronger.
“So the risks of developing psychosis like symptoms or cyclic vomiting syndromes,” Thakur said.
“Also worsening mental health, that data is pretty robust.”
When teens tell her they’re self‑treating with cannabis, her approach is to address the underlying problem rather than simply admonish use.
Rather than scolding a patient who is using cannabis for a certain reason, Thakur tries to help them “make that reason better.” Instead, she points them to other treatments for menstrual‑related symptoms: pain, mood disorders, sleep or stress.
“Those are the things that are important for a functioning human to be happy and healthy,” Thakur said.
“The goal is to, over time, reduce the amount of cannabis they’re using.”
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