Here’s news to share with your teenagers if they’re thinking about experimenting with marijuana.
A new study suggests that young people who routinely smoke pot may end up with a long-term drop in their I-Q. The researchers did not find that trend in people who became frequent users after 18. That implies marijuana is especially harmful to the developing brain, an idea that fits in with earlier research. Lead researcher Madeline Meier at Duke University says the findings send an important message to young people that canibus use can be harmful.
Pot smoking is relatively common in American teens. The U.S. government reported in June that nearly a quarter of high school students said they’d recently smoked marijuana, making it more popular than cigarettes.
