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Marijuana use for recreational purposes is becoming more common, with its legalization in nine states and in the District of Columbia, but in a study released Wednesday, researchers suggest caution while science considers its effects on the brain of adolescents.
Scientists at the University of Montreal who have conducted research on the effects of cannabis on brain development over time have found that regular users of marijuana, especially those who started to consume it earlier in their lives, life, were much more likely to suffer from their faculties of reflection.
The study, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, tracked more than 3,800 adolescents from 31 schools in the Montreal area for four years. Adolescents, who began participating in the study at age 13, agreed to provide the team with annual reports on the frequency of marijuana and alcohol use and computer-based cognitive tests. recall memory, perceptual reasoning, inhibition and short-term memory.
Students were assured that parents and teachers would not have access to information unless their habits indicate an imminent risk to their life. The study concluded that marijuana affected adolescents' long-term cognitive abilities more than alcohol use. And even after students reported that they stopped using cannabis, their cognition did not improve.
This is not the first study suggesting that an early use of cannabis can impair cognitive abilities.
In a study published in JAMA Psychiatry in June, J. Cobb Scott, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and his colleagues analyzed 69 studies involving young cannabis users. They found that, compared to non-users, marijuana users were more likely to score slightly lower than memory tests, learning new information, and thinking at a higher level involving problem solving and the processing of information.
But according to scientists, more research is needed to determine how and why the brain is affected by early marijuana use. Patricia Conrad, senior author of the Canadian study and professor of psychiatry at the University of Montreal, told NBC News. "This study focuses on the neuropsychological effects of cannabis. We think that it is important because it is related to the functioning of someone in life. "
"Cannabis causes cognitive impairment and delayed cognitive development in adolescents. Our study showed that early marijuana use had a lasting effect on cognitive abilities. T
The long-term social implications of marijuana use among adolescents are better known.
In 2014, The Lancet Psychiatry made famous the fact that teenagers who smoke marijuana every day are 60% less likely to graduate from high school or college than those who do not. never consume – and seven times more likely to commit suicide.
And a study conducted in 2017 by Josiane Bourque and her colleagues at the Université de Montréal suggests that a link between frequent marijuana use in adolescence and psychotic symptoms could be largely caused by the Depression.
According to data provided by the National Institute on Adolescent Drug Abuse, approximately 5.9% of Grade 12 students reported using marijuana daily in 2017, compared with 5.1 % in 2007.
The American Academy of Pediatrics last year released a report on the use of marijuana for medical and recreational purposes in children, stressing that it was best not to disturb the developing brain amid laws and more and more lax behavior regarding the use of pots.
"There is always significant cognitive development in adolescence," said Conrad, "so I would recommend that parents tell their children to delay or limit their use if possible."
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