Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) for kids under 12 increase the risk of persistent cannabis use later in life by three-fold.
ACEs, for children, are incidents of physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, emotional neglect, bullying, parental substance use or abuse, violence between parents, parental mental health problems or suicide, parental separation, or a parent convicted of criminal offense. Children (ages 0-12) who experience 4 or more ACEs are three times at greater risk of persistent cannabis use. Parental substance use/abuse and parental mental health issues (suicide attempts) were most influential on children when compared to non-cannabis users according to authors (Hines et.al.).
A longitudinal study of over 5,000 persons from birth to age 24 from the United Kingdom. Released in the Lancet (thelancet.com), Public Health, in June 2023.
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