Oregon Health Authority Cannabis Review Links Use to Psychosis, Suicide, Heart Attack and Stroke
The state health department's first update since 2017 finds moderate or strong evidence of harms ranging from heart attack to edible poisonings in kids.
A new Oregon Health Authority cannabis review finds moderate or strong evidence linking cannabis use to psychosis, suicide, heart attack, stroke and car crashes. It is the state health department’s first update to its cannabis health statements since 2017.
Oregon voters legalized recreational marijuana in 2014 with Measure 91. An OHA advisory committee wrote the first statements in 2015 and updated them two years later. The 2026 version, released Thursday, replaces both. It is written for clinicians, local health agencies, legislators and the public.
Dr. Tom Jeanne is the state’s deputy health officer and epidemiologist. He said the team set out to “capture as much recent data and evidence as possible” from hundreds of studies and reports.
What the Oregon Health Authority cannabis statements found
The language is blunt. “Cannabis use increases the risk of developing psychosis, including schizophrenia,” the report states. Another statement reads: “Cannabis use is linked to increased risk of suicide.”
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The state also rates the evidence as moderate or strong that cannabis use is linked to heart attack and stroke. “Driving after using cannabis increases the risk of motor vehicle crashes,” the report says.
Long-term use is tied to cannabis hyperemesis syndrome, the severe recurrent vomiting behind nearly 200,000 ER visits in recent CDC data.
Kids, pregnancy and high-THC products
“There is no known safe level of cannabis use during pregnancy,” the Oregon Health Authority writes. Prenatal use is linked to attention problems, reduced cognitive function, and “decreased academic ability and IQ scores” in children.
“Cannabis edibles can poison children and cause severe health effects requiring hospitalization,” another statement reads. In Massachusetts, ER visits for cannabis intoxication or poisoning among children 6 to 12 rose more than sevenfold after retail sales began.
Potency runs through the findings. Teens and young adults who use products above 10 percent THC face higher odds of future mental health symptoms or disorders, the report says. High-THC products also raise the risk of cannabis use disorder, echoing a recent review of high-potency marijuana.
Twelve years after Oregon legalized, its own health department now lists more than a dozen harms with moderate or strong evidence behind them.
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