Pubdate: Tue, 24 Jun 2014
Source: Signal, The (Santa Clarita, CA)
Copyright: 2014 The Signal
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/942n6o2y
Website: http://www.the-signal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4221
Author: Eric Schulzke, Deseret News
Page: A5

TEEN POT USE LINKED TO LOWER IQ IN LATER LIFE

Science Races to Keep Up With Shifting Perceptions As Youth Drug Usage
Numbers Shift in Colorado

Jokes aside about tuned-out stoners who can't find their car, some
experts are asking, what if marijuana actually makes kids dumb?

Earlier this month, three researchers at the National Institute of
Drug Abuse published an article in the New England Journal of Medicine
surveying the current state of the evidence. According to their
report, marijuana use in adolescence and early adulthood may
measurably lower users' IQ decades later down the road.

They conclude there is reason to believe marijuana may permanently
harm the adolescent brain. Until the age of 21, the piece notes, the
brain "is intrinsically more vulnerable than a mature brain to the
adverse long-term effects of environmental insults."

Given the rapid pace of marijuana legalization, researchers are noting
an increased urgency to do research on the developing brains of teen
users. Washington and Colorado have both legalized recreational
marijuana use, and legalization is actively being considered in 14
additional states. While none of these states propose making pot legal
for minors, destigmatization and greater ease of access have already
resulted in heavier use among youths in Colorado. As marijuana is
increasingly normalized and seen as relatively harmless, some experts
doubt whether we know enough to justify rapid shifts in policy and
behavior in pot usage.

Last fall, Gallup reported that a solid 58 percent of Americans
favored legalizing pot. And an NBC-Wall Street Journal poll this
spring found that 49 percent saw tobacco as harmful, while 24 percent
said the same of alcohol, 15 percent of sugar, and just 8 percent of
marijuana.

Shifting perception is quickly translating to youth drug usage in
Colorado, which became ground zero for pot legalization in 2012 when
the state voters chose to legalize and tax the drug.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy reported last year that one
in four Boulder County high school students now use pot - more than
three times the national average.

And the numbers are shifting fast. In Adams County, a Denver suburb,
high school marijuana use jumped from 21 percent in 2008 to 29 percent
in 2012. Middle school pot use in Adams County jumped 50 percent
during that period - from 5.7 to 8.5 percent.

"The association seems clear but causal mechanisms not fully
understood," Wilson Compton said. "What we need is additional work."

The NEJM article by Volkow, Compton and their co-authors cites
research showing "impaired neural connectivity" among users who began
smoking pot in their teens - including areas of the brain that affect
alertness, learning and memory. They also cite studies showing reduced
function in the prefrontal networks, which manage conscience and
self-control.

All of this is not really surprising, they argue, since the developing
brain is peculiarly vulnerable to damage in adolescence and early adulthood.

The NIDA team is currently planning (and arranging funding for) a
study that will follow 10,000 children from age 10 through adulthood,
looking at the impact of numerous substances and behaviors on the
brain. The team will do biological tests and interviews, as well as
functional magnetic resonance imaging to see what the brain is doing
in real time.
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MAP posted-by: Matt