The current evidence base on cannabis use among youth and young adults under 30 years of age is limited by two key challenges. First, there is a strong emphasis on biomedical forms of knowledge production centred on individualistic understandings and abstinence-focused goals, with a tendency to overlook the broader social contexts that influence cannabis use patterns. Second, the incorporation of youth and young adult perspectives is lacking. In a shifting drug policy landscape where many nations and regions, including ours (Canada), have either legalized cannabis or are considering doing so, we need research approaches that can comprehensively examine the documented risks of cannabis use as well as those that can account for the social and structural contexts that shape youth and young adult substance use decision-making (Rubin-Kahana et al., 2022). To date; however, much of the research addressing youth and young adult cannabis use remains under-theorized, overly descriptive, and lacking in critical analysis of the links between substance use harms and social inequities (Kourgiantakis et al., 2024).

Over the last several decades, mounting research has documented the potential health harms of cannabis use, particularly for those who initiate early or consume regularly. This includes substantial evidence that identifies risks related to the onset of psychotic disorders, motor vehicle accidents, and cannabis use disorder as well as effects on educational and occupational outcomes (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering & Medicine, 2017). However, a focus on risks in the absence of considerations of lived experience or social-contextual influences restricts our understandings and may limit the development of impactful and supportive interventions for those who may benefit most.

At this juncture, we argue that in addition to rigorous examination of health impacts, there is a pressing need for inquiry using methodological approaches that meaningfully engage youth and young adults with lived experience of cannabis use in research, peer-based education, and advocacy and activism for policy and practice change. This is particularly important given that different populations experience varying levels of risk and protection based on their social and structural circumstances (Gunadi & Shi, 2022), while cannabis policy, education, and care continue to rely on a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach, disregarding the diverse perspectives, experiences, patterns, and motivations of young people with regard to their cannabis use.

In preparing for this special section, we sought to collate research from diverse disciplines and geographic regions. We were particularly interested in highlighting research that moves beyond description towards theoretically engaged analyses, as well as research using participatory, arts-based, or youth engagement methodologies to understand youth and young adult cannabis use practices. Taken together, we envisioned that these papers would highlight new ways of theorizing, researching, and advocating in the global context of cannabis policy liberalization. We also hoped that this process would create new research connections among scholars with shared interests in this area. However, while various efforts were made to attract contributions from around the world, all but one of the final submissions were from Canada, with one additional contribution from Nigeria.

While the geographical representation is limited, the papers in this special section demonstrate innovative approaches to studying youth and young adult cannabis use while maintaining awareness of documented health risks. Bear and colleagues introduce “mindful consumption and benefit maximization” as a framework that acknowledges both potential risks and the importance of informed decision-making. They argue that harm reduction campaigns focused on cannabis risk, being received as stigmatizing or out of touch, given that cannabis is perceived by young consumers as a “relatively harmless drug” compared to other regulated substances, such as alcohol and tobacco. Instead of centering potential harms, mindful consumption and benefit maximization is presented as a strengths-oriented approach that aims to reduce stigma while promoting informed decision making to maximize positive experiences. Bear and colleagues offer that efforts to shift and better inform how young people make choices related to cannabis use can contribute new pathways for better preventing potential long-term consequences.

Another area of focus within the contributed articles included research problematizing the socio-structural contexts of cannabis use, foregrounding the perspectives of marginalized youth whose voices and life circumstances are often absent from the research literature, despite inequitably bearing the brunt of cannabis-related harms (Huang et al., 2020; Jones, 2024; Zuckermann et al., 2020). Haines-Saah and colleagues tackled the concept of “risk” among youth and young adults living with profound health and social inequities across several Canadian provinces. Using a youth-centred qualitative approach, this research makes visible the experiences of young people whose everyday lives are characterized by intersecting hardship and inequity. Within these circumstances, the risks of cannabis use are reconceptualised by the youth participants as they thoughtfully consider the ways that cannabis has served as a tool for survival while navigating historical and ongoing experiences of trauma and violence. Many of these youth also spoke to the ways that they engage in regular reflection about their cannabis use practices, informing efforts to reduce or abstain when recognizing that their use is too frequent or when experiencing adverse mental health effects.

Aligned with this focus on growing understandings of the cannabis use experiences and contexts of marginalized youth, Nelson and Nnam contributed a qualitative paper on cannabis use and harm reduction practices among youth and young adult women aged 21–35 living in Uyo, Nigeria. For young women in this setting, cannabis use was noted to progress quickly from more casual or social use, to frequent and heavy consumption. Aligned with the findings presented in Haines-Saah and colleagues’ Canadian research, the results of this study illustrate the ways that cannabis use and related risk is shaped by health and social contexts characterized by trauma and mental health challenges tied to marginalized social locations. Indeed, it is noted that in this setting, cannabis was used to “treat the psychological symptoms of structural inequalities”. Nelson and Nman powerfully argue that to make progress in supporting young people, interventions must target the social and structural roots of drug-related harms.

Examinations of the intersections between cannabis use and queer and trans youth identities was also a theme across several of the special section papers. Barborini and authors drew on community-based participatory research approaches, including photovoice, to examine how cannabis use features within the experiences of transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming (TGNC) youth in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Barborini et al. identified how TGNC youth use cannabis in purposeful and strategic ways, including as they enact ‘non-normative’ gender expressions. They also found that TGNC youth use cannabis in to facilitate introspection, including as they advance personal discoveries about their gender identities and development. In their analysis, they describe how TGNC youth are using cannabis in emancipatory ways, with some of their sample describing how cannabis use is important for them in accessing moments of gender euphoria and affirmation, particularly given many of the broader social structural oppressions they face in their everyday lives.

London-Nadeau and colleagues’ research paper, led by their team of queer youth, presents a community-based qualitative study conducted in Quebec, Canada. In this paper, the authors demonstrate how certain populations face unique risks and challenges that require more tailored approaches. They action Perrin and colleagues’ (2020) Minority Strengths Model to advance understandings about how cannabis use features in queer and trans youth’s endeavours to “survive and thrive”. Here, cannabis was identified as supporting the production of an “authentic [queer and trans] self”, facilitating processes centering on self-exploration, introspection, and expression. Additionally, London-Nadeau and colleagues contributed a commentary presenting insights gained through conducting their empirical research. In this paper, they reflect on barriers and opportunities for cannabis research conducted by queer and trans youth, including the importance of “leading from the heart” in their efforts to connect with the shared cultures of their study participants while attuning to the ways that their experiences may differ, in part due to their academic affiliations that serve as a source of privilege within the context of knowledge production.

Finally, D’Alessio and colleagues offer details on their experiences with Get Sensible, a project of the Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy. In this reflection piece, the Get Sensible team describes how their work developing and implementing an educational toolkit challenged historical approaches to cannabis education by prioritizing young people’s voices, harm reduction, other evidence-based strategies, and peer-to-peer models. They also describe how, by drawing on a youth-led project design, the Get Sensible educational toolkit provides young people with the information they need to make empowered and informed decisions to minimize cannabis-related harms.

Across diverse geographical and drug policy contexts, cannabis remains one of the most widely used substances among youth and young adults. As such, there is a pressing need for knowledge generation that pushes boundaries to expand understandings beyond the confines of biomedical and risk-dominated paradigms. Moreover, drug policy scholarship, including that published in this journal, has advocated for research and practice that embodies the harm reduction principle of “nothing about us without us,” centering the expertise of people who use substances (e.g. Harris & Luongo, 2021; Olding et al., 2023; Piakowski et al., 2024; Zakimi et al., 2024). When it comes to cannabis, or any substance use for that matter, it is our view that the impetus to protect youth from drug harms should not preclude their meaningful participation and leadership in drug prevention research and policy. The youth-centered scholarship and advocacy we highlight in this special issue is our contribution to prioritizing youth empowerment, not just their “protection.”

While our special section may not capture the full breadth of critical research being conducted with and for youth who use cannabis, the narrow geographical scope of the contributions underscores a degree of urgency for advancing innovative methodological approaches to youth and young adult cannabis research within and across global settings. We are nevertheless deeply inspired by the progress that has been made, as evidenced by the contributions in this special section, including those that critically challenge traditional approaches to cannabis use policy, education, and care via youth-centered research approaches. Ultimately, we hope that this issue will inspire a renewed research agenda that privileges the expertise of young people and engages with theories and methodologies that advance new understandings and possibilities for supporting cannabis use decision making and accompanying efforts to minimize potential harms.