And though some purport the substance can improve mood and energy, there are negative effects on cognitive skills — especially in younger users.
While marijuana use hasn’t risen amongst teens, a large study has found the substance has a major impact on the brain.
Researchers from the University of California San Diego (UC San Diego) have conducted the largest long-term study in the US on cannabis use in kids.
Analyzing more than 11,000 children from ages 9 to 17, the team tracked both substance use and cognitive performance through self-reporting and biological testing.
Across a range of skills including memory, attention, language and processing speed, teens who used cannabis showed restricted growth during key years of brain development.
Progress in memory, focus and thinking speed leveled off as they got older and started using cannabis compared to their peers who didn’t.
And in smaller groups of participants, those exposed to THC had worsened memory over time, while CBD didn’t have the same effect.
Although the differences were modest, researchers say they’re still important as they occurred during a crucial time of growth.
Teens who used cannabis had slower brain development, including memory, focus and processing speed. David – stock.adobe.com
“These differences may seem small at first, but they can add up in ways that affect learning, memory and everyday functioning,” lead study author and assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UC San Diego School of Medicine Natasha Wade said in a press release.
“[The result] also highlights how complicated cannabis products can be, especially since some products labeled as CBD may still contain THC,” Wade added.
These findings come after marijuana poisoning cases have skyrocketed 56% among New Yorkers under 19, according to data from the National Poison Data System cited in the impact report.
And from the National Poison Data System findings, more than 95% of poisoning cases in teens were caused by edibles.
The UC San Diego team will continue looking at the effects of weed on teens to understand the long-term effects, including timing and frequency, as the original participants transition into young adulthood.
Researchers suggest that delaying cannabis use could play a role in healthier brain development.
“As cannabis becomes more widely available, it’s important for families and teens to understand how it may affect the developing brain,” Wade said. L|A
I've been seeing a lot of these articles since legalization started getting popular. I know some of the players, but I decided to take a look at lobbying for this last year. Weed lobbying last year was $5.4 mil, alcohol lobbying was $541 mil. That's not even getting into pharmaceutical lobbying, and the funding of studies like these, or police and prison lobbies.
We had this guy at work who smoked weed and thought we didn't know. When faced with it, he always denied it, to the point a colleague found him doing it down at the parking lot and he still said it wasn't him. Another one had to go with him to some commission and said he had smoked while waiting in the car and this moron still said he didn't do it despite the obvious smell. Either he was already and idiot or he fried his own brain by using it, but at the end, he had to be let go because he just couldn't stop smoking weed and we all got fed up. Anyone saying that there is nothing wrong with these people has never being around one of them.
That's what I've been saying for years now.
The way they'll come in with red bleary eyes, smelling like they rolled on a dead skunk and still genuinely think no one knows they've been smoking is proof enough that it impairs the ol' brain.
I agree with you to an extent. But at the same time I knew people who were intelligent and also academic but started smoking weed in their teens and it definitely effected them negatively and it became a habit into their adult hood.
Teens smoking the marijuana is nothing new, but what's especially worrying is the nuclear arms race in product potency. They're not getting a regular high from regular grade weed. They're getting that shit that puts you in a coma with names like OG Shadow Wizard Purple Monkey Testicle Annihilator Kush.
JFC how much are these kids smoking/consuming, I was a little dipshit stoner as a teen, but I never experienced this. Then again back in my day we just had regular bud, since the really potent shit wasn't widely available.
Teens smoking the marijuana is nothing new, but what's especially worrying is the nuclear arms race in product potency. They're not getting a regular high from regular grade weed. They're getting that shit that puts you in a coma with names like OG Shadow Wizard Purple Monkey Testicle Annihilator Kush.
Those vape pens can be nutso high potency and are super easy to conceal, don't linger on your clothes at all. I'm guessing a majority of consumption with younger people would be vaping for the stealth and convenience of it.
That's what I've been saying for years now.
The way they'll come in with red bleary eyes, smelling like they rolled on a dead skunk and still genuinely think no one knows they've been smoking is proof enough that it impairs the ol' brain.
I've had people telling me you can't get addicted to it, but I've seen enough of addictive behaviour to notice the similarity. There is a lot of careless behaviour or self-denial in which they think we don't know or stop caring that we do. There is also an inability to understand it's not allowed, so they're always looking for small moments in which they can smoke even "a bit", hence, they can't stop it. And then, while they don't suffer the same withdrawals as with other drugs, they do show the behaviour of someone who's highly anxious because they can't get their dose. Either their job or their study time is just an obstacle between times in which they can consume it. If that's not addiction, then nothing is.
JFC how much are these kids smoking/consuming, I was a little dipshit stoner as a teen, but I never experienced this. Then again back in my day we just had regular bud, since the really potent shit wasn't widely available.
I never did, but few classmates of mine did in college and while it was annoying, it was tolerable. You opened a window and it was gone. I had a friend who smoked in her house, so I couldn't tell her no, but we just opened the window and I barely felt any inconvenience.
Now, it's not only the smell that's bad, it really hits you like you're smoking something toxic yourself. A friend was smoking at a party and I got a headache, nausea, and I overall felt sick. It's not the only occasion, it's general not the same as it was 20 years ago.
In general, people who's brains are still developing should not consume significant quantities of cannabis and alcohol. A little is fine, but it seems that these kids are using a lot more than that.
I think marijuana poisoning is the name for when you smoke weed for the first time and then you freak out because you’re totally gonna die and you go to the hospital.
Nearly pure THC and nothing else, and because of the nothing else it gives a shitty sorta high that you would feel is lacking something so you keep puffing pure THC over and over getting LOTS more of that than you would smoking and still never get the complete high you were looking for. Do that every day and your tolerance builds up high real quick and the negative effects of that much THC start coming on. The 1g cartridges here are only $5, use anywhere anytime practically so it's real easy to get into that shittiness.
