n order to protect youth from the health effects of cannabis use, the Cannabis Act restricts access to cannabis. Therefore, there will be no legal means for a young person to obtain cannabis, and possessing it may result in legal consequences, such as a fine or a ticket.
These are a few key facts that young people should be aware of:
- The best way to protect your health is to not use cannabis.Footnote1
- You are more likely to experience harms from cannabis because your brain is still developing until around the age of 25.Footnote2 The earlier you start using cannabis the more harm it can do Footnote1, Footnote2 Footnote3For example:
- Starting to use cannabis as a teen and using it regularly (weekly or more frequently) and over a long time (several months or years) make you more likely to become addicted and to harm your mental health Footnote1, Footnote3.
- Using cannabis can affect important aspects of your thinking, like learning and memory Footnote1, Footnote4 Some of these harms may never fully go away.
