Thread: Marijuana lowers IQ for teenage users

This new study shows that marijuana can have permanent affects on IQ when used by teenagers. Does this affect how you feel about marijuana being legalized? Are the efforts to legalize marijuana sending a message to teenagers that it is safe to use?

While smoking marijuana is sometimes touted for its ability to dull pain, research has emerged showing that it also significantly dulls the mind ? especially in teenagers.

A new study of more than 1,000 children in New Zealand, following them from birth to the age of 38, found that those who began using cannabis during their adolescence showed a decrease in their general intellectual inability, as measured by IQ tests, from childhood to adulthood.

Upon determining the age of cannabis-use onset, the researchers then analyzed the participants? various IQ tests to establish trends in intelligence over time. For adult-onset cannabis users, there was ultimately no change in their IQ over time. But individuals who started using cannabis between the ages of 13 and 18 experienced an average IQ drop of eight points.

Not only did intelligence decrease, but the changes seemed to be permanent. Quitting or toning down cannabis use did not help adolescent-onset cannabis users to recover their lost IQ points.

According to Meier, an eight-point drop may sound small, but it can actually be a significant decrease with lasting effects.

?Take an average person ? an IQ of 100 puts them in the 50th percentile of intelligence,? Meier said. ?If this person loses eight IQ points, it drops them down to the 29th percentile. IQ is a strong determinate of a person?s access to college education, getting a job, performance on the job, tendency to develop heart disease. So those individuals who lose IQ points may be disadvantaged toward the most important aspects of life.?

While the results may be staggering, Meier said there is still much work to be done. The researchers did not determine how much cannabis a person needs to use in order to impair intelligence, as well as the age range that is most vulnerable. However, Meier feels that future research should focus on cannabis use during the onset of puberty ? a crucial time for the brain?s development.

Even though more information is needed to establish the exact effects of marijuana on the developing mind, Meier noted it?s important for adults and teenagers alike to have a better understanding of just what cannabis does to their minds and bodies.

?[People] really need to be aware that cannabis isn?t harmless for adolescents,? Meier said. ?2011 was the first year in which adolescents smoked more marijuana than cigarettes. They?re getting the message that cigarettes are dangerous and that marijuana is not. They need to understand that it is not harmless.?

Read more: Pot users show drop in IQ from adolescence to adulthood | Fox News

This can't be the first study on this... hasn't it always been known that pot lowers your IQ?

I STILL think it should be legal. We do all sorts of things that lower our IQ's. Lots of them are not illegal. I believe illegal things should be ones that are truly dangerous, such as ones you could overdose easily and die on, ones that are super addictive, such as heroine and cocaine. And even that I'm easily swayed on because your body is your own, and if you are going to poison it, then it's your choice.

My main reasons are:
1. The biggest reason I think is obvious from that article is that we wouldn't be making it legal to underage kids right? So the point about it not being legalized because it cause a permanent affect if used as a teen is moot.
2. police and court budgets. The idea we are spending any money on police and court time for this seems like a waste
3. pot heads don't chew people's faces off like the people on bath salts. pot heads can ruin themselves by not caring about anything, but they generally are harmless, though smelly lol
4. the money the government could make by selling and regulating and taxing pot could do us a ton of good right now
5. Also, regulations on it would make it safer, would make sure it was not laced with anything or contain anything truly harmful
6. side effects of pot are not nearly as bad as some of the side effects of alcohol or even some over the counter drugs. It's easier to kill yourself with tylenol than pot.

Originally Posted by smsturner

3. pot heads don't chew people's faces off like the people on bath salts. pot heads can ruin themselves by not caring about anything, but they generally are harmless, though smelly lol

Actually all they were ever able to find in his system was marijuana.

There has been much speculation about what drugs, if any, would lead to the bizarre behavior authorities said Eugene exhibited before and during the attack that left the other man horribly disfigured. A Miami police union official had suggested that Eugene, who was shot and killed by an officer during the attack, was probably under the influence of bath salts.

The Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner said in a news release that the toxicology detected marijuana, but it didn't find any other street drugs, alcohol or prescription drugs. Eugene also tested negative for adulterants commonly mixed with street drugs.

The department ruled out the most common components found in so-called bath salts, which mimic the effects of cocaine or methamphetamine and have been associated with bizarre crimes in recent months. An outside forensic toxicology lab, which took a second look at the results, also confirmed the absence of bath salts, synthetic marijuana and LSD.

Read more: Man who chewed on other's face not on 'bath salts' | Fox News

Originally Posted by GloriaInTX

Actually all they were ever able to find in his system was marijuana.

Read more: Man who chewed on other's face not on 'bath salts' | Fox News

Then that man was a nutcase. Pot does NOT make you chew anyone's face off.


While I agree this is published by a biased site, the sites this article uses are very reputable.

Many large sociological studies indicate that violent and sexually aggressive behaviors are directly related to consumption of alcohol. [2] Television is also implicated in violent behavior in impressionable youths and elderly people. [3] Violent individuals admitted to hospitals are much more likely to have alcohol, cocaine, caffeine, amphetamines, PCP, or other stimulant drugs in their system than marijuana. [4]

Medical Marijuana - Violence

So apparently the sedative effect of marijuana means that caffeine will even be more likely to be in a violent person than marijuana after a violent episode. Kind of interesting...

I want to make it legal for adults, not teenagers. I don't think that making something legal for adults sends the message that it's safe to use, not at all. That's not the message about cigarettes or alcohol, either. I'd like to see marijuana restricted to the over-21 crowd because the human brain is still developing at 18 & 19, and perhaps even into the 20s, so I don't think it should be available at those ages.

Originally Posted by Spacers

I want to make it legal for adults, not teenagers. I don't think that making something legal for adults sends the message that it's safe to use, not at all. That's not the message about cigarettes or alcohol, either. I'd like to see marijuana restricted to the over-21 crowd because the human brain is still developing at 18 & 19, and perhaps even into the 20s, so I don't think it should be available at those ages.

Agreed. I'd be fine with making it legal and restricting the age that you can buy it just as they do with alcohol. I kind of assumed that was the plan all along...(for those that are actively trying to make it legal)

I really don't care if it is legal or not for adults. I just wanted to point out the irony I see. People think it should be illegal to buy a super sized soda while out to eat because it is bad for you, but want to legalise marijuana?

Originally Posted by AlyssaEimers

I really don't care if it is legal or not for adults. I just wanted to point out the irony I see. People think it should be illegal to buy a super sized soda while out to eat because it is bad for you, but want to legalise marijuana?

You could say the same about alcohol or cigarettes.

Originally Posted by Alissa_Sal

You could say the same about alcohol or cigarettes.

That is true. If something being bad for you is a reason to make it illegal (Like the soda), than it also stands to reason that any substance that is bad for you should also be illegal. To me the smarter thing to do, would be to let people make their own eating decisions.

I think it should be legal and agree with 21 as the age of consumption. I also think restricting sodas is a HUGE overreach of the government.