{"id":143988,"date":"2025-04-17T09:27:16","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T14:27:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/?p=143988"},"modified":"2025-04-17T09:27:16","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T14:27:16","slug":"learn-the-cannabis-risks-and-ways-to-reduce-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/learn-the-cannabis-risks-and-ways-to-reduce-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Learn the cannabis risks and ways to reduce them"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>While cannabis, or marijuana, use is decriminalized or legal in many places across the country, there is still a lot of misinformation surrounding the substance. If you&#8217;re curious to know what the science tells us, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/wellness\/uwm-rocks\/\">51ÁÔÆæ Rocks: What to Know about Cannabis<\/a>. You\u2019ll find information about cannabis risks and how to reduce them. Here are a few key points:<\/p>\n<h3>What is cannabis?<\/h3>\n<p>Cannabis refers to the dried leaves, flowers, stems and seeds from the cannabis plant. The main mind-altering compound is delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).<\/p>\n<h3>Potential cannabis health risks<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Impaired cognitive functioning (memory, learning, attention)<\/li>\n<li>Cannabis use disorder\/dependence<\/li>\n<li>Worse respiratory symptoms and more frequent chronic bronchitis<\/li>\n<li>Mental health problems (e.g. social anxiety, paranoia, suicidality, schizophrenia)<\/li>\n<li>Motor vehicle crashes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Potency<\/h3>\n<p>In the past 50 years, growers have genetically modified the cannabis plant to increase the THC concentration, or potency, of the products. For example, the average percentage of THC in cannabis products seized by the Drug Enforcement Administration increased from 4% in 1995 to 15% in 2021. Today, it is difficult to find cannabis products below 20% THC. The higher the percentage of THC, the higher the risk of developing problem use, impaired cognitive function and mental health problems.<\/p>\n<h3>How to lower your risk<\/h3>\n<p>The only certain way to avoid health risks is to abstain from using cannabis. Brain development continues through your mid-20s, so even if you\u2019ve already used cannabis, consider delaying further use until after age 25.<\/p>\n<p>If you choose to use, opt for products with a lower percentage of THC. Avoid vaping or dabbing, as the cannabis used for those products is often over 80% THC and is worse for your health.<\/p>\n<p>The safest place to purchase cannabis is a dispensary in a state where it\u2019s legal and regulated. Illegal weed and weed alternatives like delta-8 are unregulated. You can\u2019t be certain of the quality, potency or purity of those products.<\/p>\n<h3>We\u2019re here to help<\/h3>\n<p>If you\u2019re considering quitting or cutting back on your cannabis use, we offer confidential, non-judgmental support at the <a href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/wellness\/\">Student Health and Wellness Center<\/a>. Email <a href=\"mailto:aodresources@uwm.edu\">aodresources@uwm.edu<\/a> with questions or to schedule an appointment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Learn the risks of cannabis use and where to get help if you want to quit or cut back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40008,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[336],"tags":[],"section":[],"display_categories":[],"related-coverage":[],"uwmnews-feed":[],"class_list":["post-143988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-student-announcements"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.3 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Learn the cannabis risks and ways to reduce them<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn the risks of cannabis use and where to get help if you want to quit or cut back.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/learn-the-cannabis-risks-and-ways-to-reduce-them\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Learn the cannabis risks and ways to reduce them\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn the risks of cannabis use and where to get help if you want to quit or cut back.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/learn-the-cannabis-risks-and-ways-to-reduce-them\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"51ÁÔÆæ REPORT\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-17T14:27:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"51ÁÔÆæ News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@51ÁÔÆæNews\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@51ÁÔÆæNews\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"51ÁÔÆæ News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/learn-the-cannabis-risks-and-ways-to-reduce-them\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/learn-the-cannabis-risks-and-ways-to-reduce-them\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"51ÁÔÆæ News\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d72440401ec36965989bb00390105686\"},\"headline\":\"Learn the cannabis risks and ways to reduce them\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-17T14:27:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/learn-the-cannabis-risks-and-ways-to-reduce-them\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":362,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Student Announcements\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/learn-the-cannabis-risks-and-ways-to-reduce-them\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/learn-the-cannabis-risks-and-ways-to-reduce-them\\\/\",\"name\":\"Learn the cannabis risks and ways to reduce them\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-17T14:27:16+00:00\",\"description\":\"Learn the risks of cannabis use and where to get help if you want to quit or cut back.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/learn-the-cannabis-risks-and-ways-to-reduce-them\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/learn-the-cannabis-risks-and-ways-to-reduce-them\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/learn-the-cannabis-risks-and-ways-to-reduce-them\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Learn the cannabis risks and ways to reduce them\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"51ÁÔÆæ REPORT\",\"description\":\"News from the University of Wisconsin - 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