Natural but dangerous

A recent research study found that marijuana use by teenagers can cause a permanent loss of intelligence. Some people think that marijuana is harmless, “It is a plant, and it’s natural. Natural things are good for you.” Experts have known for years that marijuana use can be linked to mental illness and schizophrenia. Scientists continue to find more health problems associated with marijuana use. Sadly some teens do not understand these risks until it’s too late.

Often a young patient is surprised to learn that smoking marijuana was responsible for their breathing difficulties or is linked to a mental health diagnosis. Most often marijuana is associated with anxiety and panic attacks. More seriously it can causes paranoia. Tragically, but not uncommonly, when a patient in their early 20s is diagnosed with schizophrenia we find that marijuana triggered or possibly even caused the illness.

Short-term detrimental effects of marijuana include distorted perceptions, memory impairment, and difficulty thinking and solving problems. These impairments can make driving dangerous. Marijuana is the most common illegal drug found in the bloodstream of those involved in fatal car accidents.

Marijuana has other harmful effects on the body and health. Marijuana smokers miss more days of work than nonsmokers; it appears this is due to more frequent respiratory problems like colds asthma and pneumonia. Marijuana smoke irritates the lungs often causing wheezing in people without asthma. Marijuana use also effects of the heart, causing an elevated heart rate. For the first hour after each use of marijuana the user has a five times increased risk of having a heart attack.

Recent headlines have claimed marijuana causes a decrease in intelligence. In a study of the long term effects of marijuana use researchers found that people who used the drug heavily before age 18 permanently damaged their intelligence as measured with IQ tests. The deterioration was enough to cause a teenage boy of average intelligence to develop into a man with below average intelligence.

The age at which heavy use began was found to play a large role in the loss of intelligence. If the heavy use began before age 18 permanent IQ loss occurred, if the test subjects began heavy use after their teenage years there was no statistical loss of intelligence. Older studies have shown marijuana to have an adverse effect on learning and memory. On average students who smoke marijuana have worse grades, and are more likely to drop out, than their classmates who do not use the drug.

When asked, longtime marijuana users report being less satisfied with their lives, experiencing memory and relationship problems, having poorer mental and physical health as well as lower salaries and less career success.

Unfortunately in the United States, it’s often during the high school years that teenagers try marijuana for the first time, and this appears to be when young brains are most susceptible to damage from the drug. About 35% of high school seniors have smoked marijuana in the past year. The drug is prevalent, and parents should assume that their teens will have the opportunity to use marijuana during her high school years. As a community we should educate teens about the risks of marijuana use; too few of our young people understand the damage they may be causing to their minds, bodies and their futures.