Pubdate: Mon, 12 May 2014
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Copyright: 2014 The Seattle Times Company
Contact:  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/409
Author: Jerry Large

TEENS NEED TO KNOW POT'S IMPACT ON THEIR HEALTH

Making more information available may help more young people say no to
marijuana.

One of the worries attached to Washington's legalization of
recreational-marijuana sales and use is that young people could be
harmed by it. Actually, the drug is already easy to get, but there may
be a shortage of moderating information about it.

Good information exists, but more of it needs to be in people's hands,
at their fingertips and talked about enough to sink in. I'm not
advocating 1950s drug-scare drama but a stronger recognition that
whatever you put in your body has an impact, and sometimes it may not
be an impact you want.

Marijuana changes the brains of young users in detrimental ways, and
the more a person smokes, the worse the effect can be. It's smart to
know what the trade-offs are, just as it is for using alcohol, or
eating doughnuts.

Times reporter Bob Young, who's covered every angle of marijuana
legalization, has written about concerns over kids using marijuana,
and in the most recent story he included a link to a rich resource of
information that should be a go-to site for teens, parents and even
adult users.

It's a fact sheet on the site of the University of Washington Alcohol
and Drug Abuse Institute.

I didn't click on the link in Bob's story when I read it in April, but
I went back to it after a new study published a few days later caught
my attention. According to the researchers, their study is the first
to show a relationship between casual marijuana use and brain
abnormalities in young users.

Scientists already knew that heavy users show brain changes, but some
of the students in the study used marijuana only once or twice a week.
When their brains were examined with three different neuroimaging
methods, the changes showed up.

And where they showed up is important - in brain regions that involved
emotion and motivation. The study was a collaboration between
Northwestern Medicine and Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard
Medical School.

The students in that study were between 18 and 25 years old. Other
studies have shown marijuana use at younger ages can lead to a range
of troubles. Any drug use is bad when it is interacting with a young
developing brain.

And it's because children's brains are still developing that they can
so easily make dangerous choices. I've seen studies that say young
people are often aware of the dangers grown-ups warn them against, but
they tend to weigh potential rewards more heavily than potential
risks. Put friends in the mix, and making safe choices can be even
harder.

But kids aren't helpless. I'm certain that giving them more
information, more often will help them make better choices.

A 2012 survey of Washington students (the Washington State Healthy
Youth Survey) found a decline in the percentages of teens who
"perceive a great deal of risk of harm in using marijuana regularly."
Students surveyed were in grades 8, 10, and 12.

They need more information.

The UW fact sheet says early and continued use of marijuana can
"affect memory, attention and ability to think clearly, making it
difficult to concentrate, learn new things, and make sound decisions."
It has been associated with "a moderate decrease in IQ in current
heavy users."

Most teens aren't heavy users (and fewer than half of high-school
seniors in the United States report ever having used marijuana), but
the falling perception of risk should be of concern.

Adults need the information to discuss marijuana intelligently with
young people, and also because adult use has an impact on children -
and not just because of the example it sets.

Pregnant women who use marijuana risk lifelong changes to the brains
of the children they are carrying.

And parents who leave unsecured drugs in their homes tempt fate -
young children don't know whether a brownie is just a brownie. Studies
have found that unintentional exposure to marijuana, while it doesn't
happen in great numbers, rises when states make marijuana for medical
use legal.

Legalizing marijuana solves a criminal-justice problem but can open
the door to health and behavioral problems. A more informed public is
the best preventive medicine for that.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt