Submitted by Yardbroom
Before the swords are drawn, sharpened and made ready for use, do remember Yardbroom is only commenting on NEW research carried out by well qualified scientists, in International renowned establishments which was subjected to peer review and published as Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
May I quote a “report” on the findings:
“Adolescents who are regular users of cannabis are at risk of permanent damage to their intelligence, attention span and memory, according to the results of research covering nearly four decades.
The long – term study which followed a group of over 1,000 people from birth to the age of 38 has produced the first convincing evidence, say scientists, that cannabis has a different and more damaging effect on young brains than on those of adults”.
Of particular note in this new research is the number of people involved 1,000 and the time frame, almost 40 years. One of the authors of the report is Professor Terrie Moffitt of King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry. The research on people in Dunedin in New Zealand was carried out by researchers from King’s College and Duke University North Carolina in the United States.
Of the group researched “5% used cannabis at least once a week in adolescence or were considered dependent on it. Between the age of 13 and 18, when all members of the group were given a range of psychological tests, the IQ of those who had been habitual cannabis users in their youth had dropped by eight points on average.”
Madeline Meier from Duke one of the researchers, noted you may think ” eight IQ points on a scale where the mean is 100 may not sound a lot, she said a drop from 100 to 92 represents a move from the 50th to the 29th percentile. Higher IQ’s relate with higher education and income, better health and longer life.” Do note “somebody who loses eight IQ points as an adolescent may be disadvantaged compared to their same-age peers for years to come”.
The simple message is that” substance use is not healthy for kids, said Avshalom Caspi, of Duke and King’s one of the leaders of the study “That’s true for Tobacco, Alcohol and apparently Cannabis”.
The Dunedin sample is probably the most intensively studied cohort in the world and therefore the data is very good
Robin Murray, Professor Of Psychiatric research at King’s, who was not involved in the study, said “the paper was impressive and if the same results were found in other research, public education campaigns should be launched to warn of the dangers of cannabis to younger people”.
“There are a lot of clinical and educational anecdotal reports that cannabis users tend to be less successful in their educational achievement, marriages and occupations. It is part of folklore among young people that some heavy users seem to gradually lose their abilities and end up achieving much less than anticipated. This study provides one explanation as to why this might be the case.”
I have studiously avoided any personal major opinion in this article, as the research has given the pointers needed. Parents will decide how to advice their children and adolescents will be aware of this New research and can make informed decisions.
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