Abstract

This review presents a critical analysis of the main research contributions on the use of cannabis in adolescence. The article particularly discusses two issues. First, we consider the conflicting results of several investigations showing that the link between cannabis and psychopathology is someway ambivalent. Second, we illustrate studies which, starting from a normalization thesis, have focused on the existence of a social and cultural phenomenon that is leading cannabis consumers, previously represented as deviant and stigmatized, to be integrated in many aspects of everyday life.