As part of the Philadelphia Neurodevelopmental Cohort, high-resolution T1-weighted MRIs were obtained from 781 youth aged 14–22 years. This sample included 147 cannabis (marijuana) users (109 used 1–2 times per week and 38 used 3 or more times per week) and 634 cannabis non-users.
Several structural neuroimaging measures were examined, established procedures for stringent quality control were conducted, and two automated neuroimaging software processing packages were used to ensure robust results.
This study found that there were no significant differences by cannabis group in global or regional brain volumes, cortical thickness or gray matter density. In summary, they found that structural brain metrics were largely similar among adolescent and young adult cannabis users and non-users.
This does not promote, encourage or condone the use of cannabis for youth, adolescents, juvenile or underage individuals.
