'Mind the Kids': an ACAMH podcast · The Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health

Mind the Kids: Cannabis - Context is everything

·43 min

Dr. Jane Gilmore and Professor Omar Tassib open by naming the episode's focus: cannabis use and abuse in the family context and with adolescents. The discussion stays grounded in the research literature, with takeaways aimed at academics and practitioners. Jane also briefly states her own bias toward the topic, which gives the episode an unusually direct start. That directness stays restrained. The conversation shifts toward medical cannabis rather than cannabis in general. A major thread is the difference between using a substance with other people and using it alone. The guests and hosts look at peers as an informal learning environment, and at how being around others can create small interruptions that slow risk down. Solitude, by contrast, can remove some of the social checks that shape behavior. The discussion treats drug use as risky in general, then asks how those risks shift when young people are isolated. Contamination comes into that picture too. Counterfeit pharmaceuticals come up as a practical concern, with the suggestion that a more seasoned user may know how to tell a real product from a fake one. The conversation also reaches beyond the US context, noting that similar findings appear in UK literature as well. Adolescence is treated as a social setting, not just an age band: a place where risk-taking can spike, but also a context where someone who cares may help redirect the moment. The result is a measured, evidence-led discussion that keeps returning to context as the main way to read cannabis behavior.

As heard by us

A clear look at how setting and adolescent company shape cannabis risk.

Cannabis, adolescence, and family context are handled as a research question rather than a slogan. The discussion stays with setting: using with friends versus using alone, what people learn when others are present, and the risks tied to contamination and counterfeit…

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

For when you want a research-led take on cannabis, adolescents, and family context.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify