Marijuana Is More Damaging Than You Might Have Thought

By Bouvier Grant Group

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Because there is a nationwide move to legalize (or at least decriminalize) pot, there are a lot more studies on   it now. Older studies are not always relevant because there is so much more THC in today’s pot. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) just issued a press release about findings reported in a New England  Journal of Medicine article.

Among the not surprising findings: it’s addictive, it impairs driving, and like alcohol and nicotine it’s a gate- way drug. More surprising: using marijuana as a teenager is more damaging than using it as an adult, probably because the brain is not fully formed until one’s early twenties. The damage to memory and cognition  are more pronounced when used by teens. Using it in your early teens permanently decreases one’s adult IQ, even if you don’t smoke as an adult. Another surprising finding: All users have impaired thought and memory while high, but regardless of age, the deficits actually last for days afterward. An estimated 6.5% of 12th-graders nationwide report daily pot smoking, and 60% do not perceive it as dangerous.

 

Author:
Dr. Meg Bouvier

Margaret Bouvier received her PhD in 1995 in Biomedical Sciences from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. After an NINDS post-doctoral fellowship, she worked as a staff writer for long-standing NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins in the Office of Press, Policy, and Communications for the Human Genome Project and NHGRI. Since 2007, Meg has specialized in editing and advising on NIH submissions, and began offering virtual courses in 2015. She's recently worked with more than 40% of the nation's highest-performing hospitals*, four of the top 10 cancer hospitals, three of the top five medical schools for research, and 14 NCI-designated cancer centers. Her experience at NIH as both a bench scientist and staff writer greatly informs her approach to NIH grantwriting. She has helped clients land over half a billion in federal funding. Bouvier Grant Group is a woman-owned small business.

*Our clients include 9 of the top 22 hospitals as recognized by the 2023/24 US News & World Report honor roll

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