Weirdly, it seems that the people most drawn to smoking marijuana are kids. If we could put a robust legal market in place (everywhere!) and crack down on people selling to kids we could maybe have a positive effect on the weed smoking kids problem.

I think most of this is complete bullshit. I started smoking weed when I was 15. Avoided high school altogether, took two years at a community college, and finished at the University of Oregon. Weed does not seem to have negatively effected my academic performance. I've been making a comfortable living since my graduation in 1984.

@3
Well Congrats! But a single datum(your life) is not statistically significant.

Maybe getting dumber is a benefit of smoking weed? America is not a friendly place for smart, inquisitive, high-energy kids. By dropping 20 IQ points or so, these kids can fit right in and lead useful, productive lives.

Hopefully greater acceptance and conversation about canabis will lead to communications between parents, teachers, counselors and teens. It seems the scientific consensus is growing, but a major contributor to this correlation may be due to kids who are already in trouble and useing weed to address problems in their lives. Even with weed, I suspect teens can grow up healthy with the right support systems.

#3

*affected

#3
*affected
Ah ha.
=)

At least I'm not a PBR drinking Seattle grammar Nazi douche bag.

*Insert stupid fucking Ducks joke*

*Insert MALT LIQUOR and COCAINE joke*

*Insert silly hipster joke*

*Insert

At least I'm not a PBR drinking Seattle grammar Nazi douche bag.

response*

Yes you are, Ziff, and it's ok.

Yes you are, Ziff, and it's ok.

Nope, sorry. Not so.

* I have never made jokes about "fucking ducks".
* I do not drink PBR.
* Though I recently made a MALT LIQUOR and COCAINE joke, it was the first in a long time.
* I don't live within the Seattle City limits.
* I am not a grammar Nazi.

It's very sad that in a public discussion forum, the Seattle Hipster Douche Bag contingent can not actually discuss anything without making off topic insults to people they disagree with...

I know I'm way dumber than I would have been - I only finished 3rd in my class.

I think you mean "the jury is still out". Or "no verdict yet". But NOT "the verdict is still out".

#3 Your anecdotal evidence is anecdotal.

Arthur, your singular life experience has no significant scientific value compared to a scientific study of hundreds or thousands of kids. That's how science is better than individual anecdotal opinion.

@3 - imagine where you might be had you not smoked all that dope as a teen, in the 70s. ;)

@12 I kinda miss the MALT LIQUOR and COCAINE jokes. Some of your best material.

Kelly- I don't mean to be a jerk, but you make some statements that are inaccurate and misleading in this article. You should really provide links for the articles you cite (http://www.pnas.org/content/109/40/E2657…), to encourage cross checking of your statements.



For example, you state the following about the Duke paper: "Studies were performed periodically throughout their lives, and were carefully controlled to ensure test subjects did not have any other drug or alcohol addictions or psychological disorders, and were not high at the time of the test. They found that those who used pot more than once weekly before age 18 displayed more severely impaired intelligence, slower reaction times, shorter attention spans, and poorer listening skills than those who began using marijuana after age 18."



Before saying more, a definition of clinical dependence from the DSM-V manual where the researchers defined their qualifiers - "There is a pattern of repeated self-administration that can result in tolerance, withdrawal, and compulsive drug-taking behavior." Read more here or anywhere else (http://www.4shared.com/office/Qm28z-8H/D…) but the bar is pretty high for this diagnosis (aka TOTAL POTHEADS *who have resulting problems*)



Your statement is inaccurate/untrue for a few reasons.



1. They demonstrated controls for other addictions, and that presence of other addictions did not affect their overall conclusion. BUT, they DID NOT exclude these individuals from their study as you suggest.



2. They show that people who used pot weekly before 18, and are continuing to use on a frequent basis at the age of 38 (Also, 2+ clinical diagnoses of dependence over the years of the study), demonstrate reduced IQ that persists even after stopping use. (Aside: this effect, btw, is ~7-8 IQ points, the error of an IQ test is likely 3.5-4, although they do not include this info in their study).



3. When considering ALL participants, which includes those clinically diagnosed as dependent 1, 2, & 3 times, they see reduction of "impaired intelligence, slower reaction times, shorter attention spans, and poorer listening skills." The individuals diagnosed as "clinically dependent" is where the majority of the statistical strength of their conclusions comes from. This is NOT, by ANY MEASURE AT ALL, the same as "...those who used pot more than once weekly before age 18".



Sorry for the long note, but I thought someone should say that this study isn't concluding or showing what the media has been saying. Is marijuana use at a clinically dependent level bad for you in these ways? Probably yes (almost definitely). Is it even worse when use starts before the age of 18, probably yes. BUT, I'm pretty sure this is not what you have stated here, and a correction should be issued if I read this study correctly.



But, the statement of "weekly" before the age of 18? That's almost definitely wrong based off of my reading...

duke is the main proprietorial owner of green leaf tobacco, the main strain of burl tobacco in pre rolled cigarettes. of course there going to shit on marijuana!

@3 idk if u will respond but thanks for making that point i am a adolesent pothead (14) and i am determining if i should quit now while its not bad but from the multiple sites i have researched the ansewer is hard to find cause many of them contradict the other so what would your opinion be? ( I know its stupid to ask random people on the internet for advice but adults around me will obviously tell me to stop and they have very little knowlege of weed.)