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Although I have used pot & appreciated the states that it openned up for me, since I have been working with people's brains, I have found that pot use strongly increases low frequency brainwaves in the frontal &pre-frontal cortex and this is associated with difficulties focusing, the capacity to be present and to follow through on intended tasks.
Teenage marijuana use may permanently reduce IQ
Tuesday, 28 August 2012
Teenagers who smoke marijuana chronically risk permanent brain damage. Research subjects had a reduced IQ by up to eight points.
WASHINGTON: Teenagers who smoke marijuana regularly may be doing permanent brain damage, reducing IQ by up to eight points, according to a new study.
Researchers compared Intelligence Quotient (IQ) results for subjects aged 13 and then at 38 for more than 1,000 New Zealanders, some of whom were regular cannabis-users and some who were not.
The results, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, were striking. A decline of around eight points for those who started smoking as teens and kept it up, persistently, in their 20s and 30s, said lead researcher Madeline Meier, a Duke University psychologist.
That's a big deal, Meier explained. "On average, IQ should be stable" as a person ages, she said.
IQ increased slightly in people who never smoked marijuana
For the people in the study who had never smoked any marijuana, their IQ actually went up a few tenths of a point or so.
"We know that IQ is a strong determinant of a person's access to a college education, lifelong total income, their access to a job, their performance on a job," Meier said.
"Somebody who loses eight IQ points in their teens and twenties may be disadvantaged compared to their same age peers in most of the important aspects of life, and for years to come."
Reduced IQ couldn't be traced to other factors, such as education
And the drop couldn't be traced to differences in education or by other substance abuse, including alcohol or other drugs, she said.
The ones who started smoking cannabis as adolescents and continued persistently also performed more poorly on tests of memory and ability to focus and think quickly, even when adjusted for each individual's natural abilities.
And those who quit or slowed their marijuana use within the year prior to testing at age 38 still showed the same reduced IQ results.
Yet for those persistent users who started smoking as adults, brain power didn't drop. This is a key distinction, Meier said.
"Adolescence is a particularly vulnerable period of brain development," Meier said.
Smoking in adolescence disrupts normal brain processes
Those kids who smoke up early and often "might be disrupting the normal critical brain processes," permanently damaging their brains, she explained.
The study did not gather data on exactly how much pot was used or how often the persistent users were smoking.
Those who showed deficits were those who researchers determined were ‘cannabis-dependent’ during periodic interviews from age 18 to age 38.
Further research could also help determine if staying off cannabis for more than a year meant "functioning could be recovered," Meier said. "We didn't look into that, but it's definitely possible."
But bottom line, she said, the results show "cannabis use, marijuana use, in adolescence is not healthy. It's harmful."
Marijuana 2.0:
Attached we wanted to bring you up to date with the latest information on marijuana in our article "Marijuana 2.0." For example, last year was the first time that a teen tried marjuana over nicotine or alcohol as their first drug experience. The THC content/potency has doubled in only the last 10 years. Doctors are being educated at conferences regarding how to manage marijuana withdrawal symptoms. Click on the article for more information, pictures, stats and sources cited. Click here: "Marijuana 2.0" or http://www.recoveryhappens.com/marijuana%202.0%20pdf.pdf
What I have to wonder is:
Did their IQ go down or did they just care less about how well they did on the test?
When I was in college, I heard that you should take an exam under the same conditions in which you studied. In my day (Gawd, I sound old!) popping Black Beauties (speed) to cram for a test was a common practice. So the theory goes that you should also pop Black Beauties at test time. I don't know if this is an "old college tale" or if there's truth to it.
I can see how "chronic" use might produce different results in any age user. When I used to smoke weed, I noticed a definite difference in its effects depending upon my usage. If I was smoking daily, I became an unmotivated, lazy pot head. If I smoked only occasionally, my experiences were opportunities for creative thought and enlightenment -- a real gift from the Gods.
As for the validity of the study... if www.recoveryhappens.com is emeshed with the AMA or the mainstream medical paradigm it's likely they are incapable of being objective. Afterall, the medical industry would suffer if the medicinal properties of Cannibus became widely accepted.