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NEW YORK (NBC) – A new study reveals that teenagers' brains are more vulnerable to the effects of marijuana than alcohol.
According to scientists at the Université de Montréal, teens who start using marijuana regularly may have a lasting impact on their ability to think.
The study, published Wednesday in the American Journal of Psychiatry, followed more than 3,800 adolescents from 31 schools in the Montreal area for four years. The teenagers, who began participating in the study at the age of 13, agreed to provide annual reports on how often they were using marijuana and alcohol. They also had computer-based cognitive tests that measured recall memory, perceptual reasoning, inhibition, and short-term memory.
To get a more honest account of their use of marijuana and alcohol, students were assured that parents and teachers would not have access to information – unless they were able to do so. an imminent risk to safety. The study concluded that marijuana had a more damaging effect on the long-term cognitive abilities of adolescents than alcohol. Even after students reported stopping marijuana, their cognition did not improve.
"Cannabis causes cognitive impairment and delays cognitive development in adolescents," Patricia Conrad, senior author and professor of psychiatry at the University of Montreal, told NBC News. "This study focuses on the neuropsychological effects of cannabis. is related to how someone works in life. "
This is not the first research to demonstrate that cannabis use can be harmful to the adolescent brain.
In a study published by JAMA Psychiatry in June, scientists from the University of Pennsylvania analyzed 69 studies involving young cannabis users. They found that young people who used marijuana frequently were more likely to score slightly lower on memory tests, new information, and higher-level thinking involving problem solving and treatment. information, compared to non-users.
Scientists say more research is needed to determine how and why the brain is affected by early marijuana use. But the long-term social consequences 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.
In the midst of increasingly lax laws and attitudes about pot use, the American Academy of Pediatrics released a report last year against the use of marijuana for medical and recreational purposes in children . At present, nine states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for recreational purposes for adults over 21 years of age.
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