Substance Use

Alcohol is a depressant drug, which can slow down the parts of the brain that affect thinking, behaviour, breathing, and heart rate. Like the body, the human brain is still developing throughout adolescence and early adulthood, generally until about 25 years of age.

Kids Health in the Classroom

The law sets a minimum age of 19 to use, buy, possess and cultivate cannabis in Ontario. This is the same as the minimum age for tobacco and alcohol sales.

Youth and young adults (up to 25 years of age) are considered a high-risk group when it comes to cannabis use. Cannabis use can cause unpleasant, unwanted, or negative effects on mental and physical health, with both short and or long-term use.

In Ontario cannabis is legal for those over the age of 19, but is illegal for anyone under that age. This means that under-age users will turn to the black market, or “street” products. These products are not regulated or checked by anyone, and can contain substances other than cannabis. In many cases, street cannabis has been found to include many other drugs such as cocaine and fentanyl, which can put them at high risk of overdose.

One of the main reasons youth and teens will use a substance is peer pressure. It’s important to know that peer pressure can be in different forms. In some cases, it may result from their peers directly telling them they “should” use cannabis, or “must” use cannabis to fit in.

Prior to the legalization of cannabis, the bi-annual Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey reported that 19% of students in grades 7 to 12 had used cannabis in the past year (2018). The rates between males and females is similar (19.6% and 18.3%, respectively).

Mental illness can be defined as a condition that is characterized by alterations in mood, thinking, and/or behaviour, and associated with symptoms of significant distress and decreased functioning. There are a wide variety of mental illnesses, ranging from mood disorders, anxiety disorders, personality disorders, eating disorders, schizophrenia, problem gambling, and substance use disorders.