Marijuana and Teenage Brains: Can Pot Make Kids Dumber?

Ever wondered why the legal age to consume marijuana is 21 (in Colorado and Washington)? My first publication in The Stranger (A Seattle newspaper founded by Tim Keck, who also  co-founded The Onion) takes a look at the scientific research behind how toking up at a young age might do permanent brain damage. Read it HERE! 

Fair warning, although my article is safe for work, a lot of content in The Stranger is somewhat outspoken and contains NSFW language.

Source

Thanks for reading and cheers to your brain!

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And in case you were curious, here are the journal articles referenced in the article:

1.         Lisdahl, K., N. Wright, C. Medina-Kirchner, K. Maple, and S. Shollenbarger, Considering Cannabis: The Effects of Regular Cannabis Use on Neurocognition in Adolescents and Young Adults. Current Addiction Reports, 2014. 1(2): p. 144-156.

2.         Meier, M.H., A. Caspi, A. Ambler, H. Harrington, R. Houts, R.S.E. Keefe, K. McDonald, A. Ward, R. Poulton, and T.E. Moffitt, Persistent cannabis users show neuropsychological decline from childhood to midlife. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2012. 109(40): p. E2657‚ÄìE2664.

3.         Arnone, D., T.R. Barrick, S. Chengappa, C.E. Mackay, C.A. Clark, and M.T. Abou-Saleh, Corpus callosum damage in heavy marijuana use: Preliminary evidence from diffusion tensor tractography and tract-based spatial statistics. NeuroImage, 2008. 41(3): p. 1067-1074.

4.         Ashtari, M., K. Cervellione, J. Cottone, B.A. Ardekani, and S. Kumra, Diffusion abnormalities in adolescents and young adults with a history of heavy cannabis use. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 2009. 43(3): p. 189-204.

5.         Bava, S., L.R. Frank, T. McQueeny, B.C. Schweinsburg, A.D. Schweinsburg, and S.F. Tapert, Altered white matter microstructure in adolescent substance users. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 2009. 173(3): p. 228-237.

6.         Gruber, S.A., M.M. Silveri, M.K. Dahlgren, and D. Yurgelun-Todd, Why so impulsive? White matter alterations are associated with impulsivity in chronic marijuana smokers. Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology, 2011. 19(3): p. 231.

7.         Gruber, S.A., M.M. Silveri, M.K. Dahlgren, and D. Yurgelun-Todd, Why so impulsive? White matter alterations are associated with impulsivity in chronic marijuana smokers. Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology, 2011. 19(3): p. 231-242.

8.         Clark, D.B., T. Chung, D.L. Thatcher, S. Pajtek, and E.C. Long, Psychological dysregulation, white matter disorganization and substance use disorders in adolescence. Addiction, 2012. 107(1): p. 206-214.

9.         Volkow, N.D., R.D. Baler, W.M. Compton, and S.R.B. Weiss, Adverse Health Effects of Marijuana Use. New England Journal of Medicine, 2014. 370(23): p. 2219-2227.

10.       Pistis, M., S. Perra, G. Pillolla, M. Melis, A.L. Muntoni, and G.L. Gessa, Adolescent exposure to cannabinoids induces long-Lasting changes in the response to drugs of abuse of rat midbrain dopamine neurons. Biological Psychiatry, 2004. 56(2): p. 86-94.