What topics does this cannabis study cover?

This study covers research on: Mental Health.

Where was this research published?

Published in Drug and alcohol dependence on May 5, 2026.

Teens drastically underestimate cannabis risks compared to other drugs

Adolescents view cannabis as less harmful than cigarettes, nicotine vapes, and alcohol: Findings from two California school surveys.

Drug and alcohol dependence • May 5, 2026 • Moderately Relevant

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AI Summary

Adolescents in California dramatically underestimate the risks of cannabis use compared to other addictive substances, according to two large-scale school surveys. In the 2019-2020 survey of over 160,000 students, only 66.8% of adolescents perceived everyday cannabis use as harmful, compared to 77.7% for alcohol, 85.3% for vapes, and 92.6% for cigarettes. This perception gap persisted in the 2024 follow-up survey, suggesting a consistent and concerning trend in how young people view cannabis relative to other drugs.

The research reveals that harm perceptions for cannabis become increasingly optimistic as adolescents get older—a troubling reversal compared to other substances. While teenagers' concerns about cigarettes, vapes, and alcohol either stayed the same or increased with age, perceptions of cannabis harm actually declined as students progressed through high school. Additionally, adolescents who had already used cannabis rated it as less dangerous than non-users, and peer influence played a significant role: the more friends a student knew who used a substance, the less harmful they perceived it to be.

These findings highlight a critical public health challenge. As cannabis legalization expands in California and nationwide, adolescents are forming dangerously optimistic views about a substance that carries documented risks during brain development. The study suggests that current prevention messaging is insufficient to communicate cannabis risks effectively to young people, particularly in an era of legalized access and widespread availability.

📄 Original Abstract

Perceptions that substances are harmful help protect against their use. The purpose of this study was to investigate adolescent perceptions of the harmfulness of everyday and occasional use of cannabis compared to those for cigarettes, nicotine vapes, and alcohol, and how those perceptions varied with age. Participants were 160,222 adolescents who took the 2019-2020 California Student Tobacco Survey and 14,922 adolescents who took the 2024 California Youth Tobacco Survey. Descriptive statistics were used to examine harm perceptions by substance use history, use frequency, the proportion of friends using a substance, and grade level. In the 2019-2020 survey, everyday use of cannabis was perceived as harmful by the smallest proportion of adolescents (66.8%), followed by alcohol (77.7%), vapes (85.3%), and cigarettes (92.6%; all p's < 0.0001). Harm perceptions for each substance were lower for occasional use than for everyday use, and lower among those who had ever used the substance than among those who had never used it. Harm perceptions remained unchanged or increased with grade for cigarettes, vapes, and alcohol but decreased for cannabis. For each substance, harm perceptions declined as the proportion of participants' friends who used the substance increased. Data from the 2024 survey followed similar patterns. Adolescents perceived cannabis as less harmful than cigarettes, nicotine vapes, and alcohol. As adolescents aged, they were less likely to perceive cannabis as harmful, unlike other substances. Increased education and prevention messaging may be needed to raise awareness of the risks of using cannabis during adolescence.

Paper Type

📄 Research

Publication

Journal: Drug and alcohol dependence
Published: May 5, 2026
PMID: 42091353
DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2026.113155

Authors (5)

Deepti Agarwal Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive #0905, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Jijiang Wang Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive #0905, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Shuwen Li Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive #0905, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Christopher M Anderson Moores Cancer Center, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive #0905, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Shu-Hong Zhu Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive #0905, La Jolla, CA, USA; Moores Cancer Center, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive #0905, La Jolla, CA, USA. Electronic address: szhu@health.ucsd.edu.