At the risk of a buzzkill: Marijuana Smokers Who Start Early Are at Greatest Risk, Study Finds

[Recursion]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/15/health/research/15marijuana.html

Young adults who started using the drug regularly in their early teens performed significantly worse on cognitive tests assessing brain function than did subjects who were at least 16 when they started smoking, scientists reported on Monday.

The findings, presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in San Diego, led researchers at McLean Hospital to surmise that the developing teenage brain may be particularly vulnerable to the ill effects of marijuana.

“We have to understand that the developing brain is not the same as the adult brain,” said Dr. Staci A. Gruber, the paper’s senior author and director of the cognitive and clinical neuroimaging section of the neuroimaging center at McLean, a Harvard-affiliated hospital in Belmont, Mass.

The study, done in conjunction with brain scans, was small, consisting of 35 chronic marijuana smokers who were 22 years old on average. Twenty had started smoking marijuana regularly before age 16, while 15 started smoking regularly at age 16 or later. All had similar levels of education and income.

I think it should be legalized, but I get irritated when people pretend it's healthy...

[Dr Fate]

1. I doubt that mood-altering drugs of any kind are too good for children.

n/t

[Recursion]

5. Can't be as bad as the prozac and lithium we're stuffing them with, admittedly

But, yeah.

[Dr Fate]

8. I agree, I was referring to legal drugs as well as illegal drugs. n/t

n/t

[NightWatcher]

10. along with the other ADHD drugs,

[BakedAtAMileHigh]

16. endo-cannabinoids are found naturally in mother's milk

They facilitate mother-child bonding and the suckling instinct. Life without cannabinoids would be very difficult and painful, for adults as well as children.

Every one of us is born a natural "stoner", so if you think all "mood altering drugs" (cannabis is NOT a drug, anyway) are bad for kids, blame the manufacturer, I guess.

I'm not saying children should smoke pot. I'm telling you this study is bogus and the science behind cannabinoids and their roles in cognition and the immune system are quite well documented. One need not rely on gutter science like this study for information.

[Dr Fate]

21. Truth be told...

...I've smoked it since I was 12. Graduated from law school and passed the CA Bar, the hardest in the USA, while working full time and smoking daily. I've always done fairly well in school and after 20 years, I have yet to be fired or disciplined at work.

I'll still say that the less "drugs" pre-teens do, the better off they probably are. You would be right if you said that I was basing this more on instict and personal philosphy that on science...

I'm sure you and I are close to being on the same side here...I'm just not going to be the guy who says it is okay for kids to drink, smoke, take pills, etc.

[JuniperLea]

28. On stoner instinct...

I realized this before I ever smoked The Weed. I knew when my brother was in little league and all the kids would spin around a bat to get dizzy. We liked the dizzy!

Yes, we are hardwired, so are animals. That's why rats hit the "give me more weed" button!

[eShirl]

2. Nobody is "pretending" it's healthy.

unrec for gratuitous strawman

[Kennah]

3. Doubt anyone will give a shit

Alcohol and tobacco plays more than a small part already.

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/lcod.htm

Number of deaths for leading causes of death

* Heart disease: 616,067
* Cancer: 562,875
* Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 135,952
* Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 127,924
* Accidents (unintentional injuries): 123,706
* Alzheimer's disease: 74,632
* Diabetes: 71,382
* Influenza and Pneumonia: 52,717
* Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 46,448
* Septicemia: 34,828

[JonLP24]

4. They beat this one to death in LBN

It should be pointed out it is yet to be peer-reviewed.

[Recursion]

6. Oh, sorry; I missed that (nt)

[tridim]

7. It's healthy for me. Period.

However I didn't start using it medicinally until my 30's.

[bullwinkle428]

9. I'm sure that 12-year-olds who start guzzling 6-packs of Pabst Blue Ribbon

are more likely to have specific health issues later in life as well, but that doesn't mean a nice bottle of Left Hand Imperial Smoked Porter can't be enjoyed by a responsible adult as an accompaniment to dinner!

[DCKit]

11. Goes back to the argument of self-medication.

What if those who begin to smoke at an early age are those more predisposed to the noted mental issues?

There is no control group in this study.

[Warpy]

12. Good reason to legalize it

and keep it behind a counter with ID required. No, it won't stop kids from getting it, but it will slow them down considerably. The black market pipeline is wide open to any kid who's got the money for a gram.

Inhaling any smoke directly into your lungs is not healthy. No drug is without side effects. However, that's not really the point, is it?

Adults simply do not need a government nanny. Kids need to be deterred from doing things with the potential to screw up their lives, but adults generally know the risks.

Legalize it.

[mike_c]

13. I don't PRETEND marijuana is healthy....

I know it to be healthy for a fact. Notwithstanding the results of this study, which I haven't read yet, I started smoking marijuana when I was 15 years old. I've been a regular smoker-- read daily-- ever since, with occasional periods when I stop using it for some reason or other that made sense at the time (including excessively enthusiastic law enforcement some places where I've lived). For at least the last couple of decades I've used marijuana daily, EVERY day. But to return to the OP, I began when I was a teenager and have continued for my entire life. I'm 55 now.

I'm also a scientist and an academic. I have advanced degrees. I am respected by my peers and colleagues. My professional reputation is quite good. There is absolutely no evidence, I would argue, that regular, prolonged marijuana use has caused me any harm whatsoever. None.

On the other hand, I perceive great benefit. Marijuana is a magnificent stress reducer, at least in my experience. That alone has helped keep me sane through the process of coming up through an intense and high pressure academic and scientific hierarchy. It is a sleep aid and, at least anecdotally, an antidepressant. Lots of folks use marijuana for pain management-- I'd certainly call that a "healthy" benefit. The list of beneficial uses is actually quite long. Perhaps you should do more to acquaint yourself with that list, or otherwise dispel your preconceived notions that marijuana isn't "healthy."

[BakedAtAMileHigh]

17. awesome post!

Thanks.

[tridim]

20. Stress relief is the biggest benefit IMO.

Stress is very underestimated in our society, it is a killer by definition.

You're absolutely right about cannabis and stress, it's the only medication I've found that doesn't have any undesirably side-effects, except jail of course.

I haven't slept less than 8 hours a night since I started using cannabis as a stress reliever/sleep aid. It's not the "knock out" sleep that the doctor prescribes, it's quality, uninterrupted, refreshing, REAL sleep.

[Dreamer Tatum]

29. If you were an actual scientist, you wouldn't try to refute a study with an anecdote

So, there's that.

[mike_c]

32. if you were an actual dreamer, you wouldn't refute my refutation with logic....

Your turn. :rofl:

on edit: all data is anecdotal. It has to come from somewhere, and be interpreted by someone. My experience using marijuana is no less significant for it's being "anecdotal." Nor would yours be if you had the opposite experience. It's true, of course, that repetition adds power to any observation, but even an n of one can be consistent with reality if it's drawn from a larger sample for which it is true.

[Dreamer Tatum]

33. Touche. Try this on for size:

My dad has smoked cigarettes daily for 50 years, and he doesn't have cancer or any other disease thought to be caused by smoking.

So when do we refund all of that money back to the tobacco companies?

[mike_c]

34. I think the edit in my original response applies....

As you suggest, my experience might be in the tails of the larger distribution rather than reflecting its central tendencies, like your healthy smoker dad (or your dad might simply not be sick yet, or might simply not know he's sick). Still, it IS my experience, and it's the only one I have. In fairness, I haven't seen any data that I agree to be reliable that contradicts that experience, either.

[Dreamer Tatum]

37. There is the rub

Studies are about the mean, and slight deviations about the mean. I have no doubt that there are MANY who would and do tolerate pot with no discernible effects, but I am less confident about what that measure actually is. In any case, I don't think that the idea of limiting pot to adults is controversial in the least.

[ellisonz]

43. ...

:fistbump:

[BakedAtAMileHigh]

14. Its Bogus: Read the LBN Thread

No variable control for other substances, no peer review, and no mechanism by which the supposedly "irreversible" damage could occur, especially considering the fact that it has been solidly proven that cannabinoids are strong neuro-protectants.

You'll have to take your junk science somewhere else, sorry.

[JuniperLea]

30. Thanks for this...

You saved me some time... I went right to those results too. These are questions people should ask before posting things. That's not to say they shouldn't post them; the debate is a good thing.

[Vinnie From Indy]

15. The study is hardly definitive

Also, as another poster pointed out, there are dozens of substances that children can consume heavily that will effect their health. A 12 yr old guzzling Jack Daniels everyday is most likely going to have serious health issues someday.

[nebenaube]

18. Well...

Consider this: since caffeine use by teenagers has been shown to shrink the hypothalamus, can this study be truly representative?

[elocs]

19. Naughty, naughty boy. Nothing negative about marijuana will ever be accepted here.

Any study that does not find that pot is the food of the gods will be rejected as invalid every time.

[Dr Fate]

22. I think the science on both sides of the issue is worth exploring and debating.

n/t

[JuniperLea]

27. And likewise, some will always negate any benefits of The Weed...

I have a family member with a debilitating neurological disease who can only find relief in The Weed. He was anti-Weed for over 60 years... until he was prescribed something that actually helped him finally sleep and get to REM sleep... he hadn't experienced this in nearly 15 years... hadn't had a full nights sleep in all that time.

But many will say it's bad.

I find that sad.

No one under the age of 16 should be using The Weed, or any other drug, including caffeine and other food additives such as dyes and HFCS.

[BakedAtAMileHigh]

31. riiiiight: there's no fooling you!

Did you even bother to read this study and how it was conducted before you made your comment? Somehow, I doubt it.

[JonLP24]

41. Don't worry about it

He always does the hit-and-run posts on cannabis threads.

[Johonny]

45. pretty much

[superduperfarleft]

23. Meh, so young kids shouldn't smoke an ounce a week.

I don't think anyone would disagree with you there. :shrug:

[Dr Fate]

24. LOL! My thoughts exactly. n/t

n/t

[cleanhippie]

25. I am sure results are similar to the use of alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, HFCS, etc.

Not really news, IMO.

[Xithras]

26. The naysayers should read it. The study basically says "No pot before 16". It's a good suggestion.

What they found was part developmental, and part behavioral.

Behaviorally, youths who begin to smoke pot at ages 12-14 tend to exhibit far less self control, and use a substantially larger amount of marijuana than older smokers. This isn't all that shocking, as anyone who deals with early teens can tell you that self-control and moderation can be problems for youths at this age in regards to ANYTHING (video games, soda consumption, etc.) Previous studies, for example, have found that early teen smokers are FAR more likely to chain smoke, and early teen drinkers are FAR more likely to binge, than teens who waited until they were older to begin. It's a fairly consistent behavioral pattern that isn't specific to marijuana.

Developmentally, the brains of 12 year olds tend to be structured more like those of children than of adults. By 16, this fact has reversed itself. The ingestion of very large amounts of marijuana during this transition can cause the brain to restructure incorrectly, which may cause permanent and irreversible learning difficulties.


Honestly, NOBODY should be advocating that kids this age take mind-altering drugs anyway. No 14 year old should be smoking pot.

[wildbilln864]

42. Could you ...

provide a link to the evidence that. "The ingestion of very large amounts of marijuana during this transition can cause the brain to restructure incorrectly, which may cause permanent and irreversible learning difficulties." The study referenced in the OP.
Thanks in advance.

[krabigirl]

35. It is healthy, but smoking anything isn't good for the lungs. Also, kids shouldn't do drugs.

Not that surprising.

[backscatter712]

40. So make space brownies with it! You don't have to smoke it. n/t

[Duer 157099]

36. If I were the parent of a depressed pre-teen

and the doctor wanted to prescribe a mood-altering drug, I would FAR, FAR prefer my child to use cannabis instead.

PERIOD.

[okieinpain]

38. yeah it's probably true my memory sucks right now. but I sure

could use a joint right now.

[Romulox]

39. You know might keep these kids safe? A War...on Drugs! nt

[ellisonz]

44. And when we catch them at age 17 with a doobie and some friends at the local park...

...we can take away their federally backed financial aid and then feed them into the prison machine.