Marijuana Smokers Who Start Early Are at Greatest Risk, Study Finds

Nadia
Current Event Posting Number: 2
Topic: Health
Title: Marijuana Smokers Who Start Early Are at Greatest Risk, Study Finds
Publication: New York Times
Length: words/1 page
Date: November 15, 2010
Author: Roni Rabin

Marijuana. Good or bad? Harmless or harmful? Smoking Marijuana is usually present during teens. And the timing could not be worse, a new study shows.
Teenagers who started using marijuana or weed, regularly in their early teens performed much worse on the Cognitive Tests (that assessing their brain and how it functions), than those who were at LEAST 16 at the time they had started smoking scientists report. These findings were presented at the annal meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, San Diego, California, which led researchers at McLean Hospital to come to a conclusion that the developing brain of a teenager is much vulnerable to the effects of weed. Dr. Staci A, tries explaining the difference between the developing teenage brain and the brain of an adult. The study that was performed in conjunction with brain scans was small had consisted of 35 chronic weed smokers who were 22 years old, on average. 20 of them had started smoking on a regular basis before they reached the age of 16, while the other 15 started smoking regularly when they reached the age of 16 or older. All the people who smoked weed had similar life-styles, education AND income. The people were asked to complete an assessment of executive function where the brain is responsible for planning and abstract thinking, as well as understanding rules and acting inappropriately. The test asked them to sort cards with different shapes, numbers and colors, which is a measure of cognitive flexibility, obedience, the ability to stay focused and control impulsive responses. The people who started smoking at an earlier age scored much lower on the test than the ones who started smoking at a more "decent" age, past 15 or 16. "They got fewer of the card-sorting categories correct and made more mistakes. They were also much more likely to repeat their mistakes, continuing to give incorrect answers even after being told that they were wrong." At age 15 the brain starts changing and "the part that modulates executive function is the last part to develop." There are also other significant differences between the two groups of smokers. Those who had been using weed on a more regular basis smoked more than twice as often then those who started smoking in later years. Studies show the early users smoked 14.7 grams per week, almost three times as much as the later smokers who used 5.9 grams a week, on average.

Conclusion: In conclusion, weed is unhealthy, but it depends on what age you start smoking. If you are "safe and smart" with this drug, you will not have the after affects of being unintelligent. Dr. Gruber believes that if weed were to be legalized in 2012, it would be alright only if there is an age restriction (which there was on the Prop 19) ballot. After completely developing, or at least leaving the stage of developing.

Opinion: I agree with the age restriction, since weed is one of the "safest" drug. Of course any drug is bad for you, but so far marijuana has proved to be the "healthiest" and "safest" hence, medical marijuana. Weed is also safer than alcohol, so if alcohol is legal, there isn't really a reason for weed to be illegal or looked down upon more than alcohol. Brain cells obviously are lost, but not as much, and not as often. [Same protocols would be taken with weed as if it were alcohol, so it really would not be AS unsafe]. But as I've stated, I think it'd be a good idea to at least wait to be 15 or 16, or a reasonable age to start smoking if you'd plan to do so which is also backed up by reports and tests.