Photo: Wirestock / iStock / Getty Images
A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association has public health officials concerned. A team of researchers from the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California found that a growing number of high school students have admitted to using delta-8 THC, a chemical compound that is similar to the psychoactive chemical in marijuana.
The chemical is unregulated in many states because of a loophole in the 2018 farm bill that allows it to be sold if it is derived from hemp plants.
According to the researchers, roughly one-third of high school students admitted to using marijuana products over the past year, while 11% of high school seniors admitted to using delta-8 THC products.
"We know high school students naturally want to explore and try new 'exciting' things, like e-cigarettes, alcohol, or marijuana," said senior study author Adam Leventhal, director of the University of Southern California Institute for Addiction Science. "It's not surprising that we're seeing that they're using delta-8. We just didn't expect it to be so high."
The study found the highest percentage of users were in states that have not legalized marijuana, particularly in the South and Midwest.
Public health officials are concerned that so many high school students are using the drugs because there are limited studies about their long-term effects.
"11% is a lot of people – that's at least one or two students in every average-sized high school class who may be using delta-8. We don't know enough about these drugs, but we see that they are already extremely accessible to teens," Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said in a press release.