Marijuana

All across the country, marijuana advocates are suggesting that marijuana use is safe. Unfortunately, that's not true, especially for children. According to the National Institutes of Health, more than 6.5 percent of high school seniors admit to daily use. The long term consequences of marijuana use are troubling and have the medical community on alert.

Marijuana Effects

When someone smokes marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), fits into the bodies so-called cannaboid receptors, affecting mood appetite and memory. This triggers a domino reaction that culminates in the “high.” For a brief time, the bodies mental abilities, especially memory and attention, are severely impacted. In addition, marijuana users have trouble with motor coordination and lose access to normative judgment. For teens who choose to drive while using marijuana, the results can be deadly. According to a 2009 study, a few puffs of marijuana appear to produce a reaction as impaired as blood alcohol level of .08.

Marijuana and Brain Development

When we think about brain development, we think that throughout our childhood the brain is growing. But according to scientists, the opposite is actually happening. As young children, our brains are actually larger and have many more connections. As we develop, we lose many of these connections, pruning the ones that we don't need and making the ones that we use, more useful and efficient. This is exactly the time when the brain is refining its skill in making judgments, thinking critically and developing good memory.

Use in Children and Adolescents

One of the most concerning aspects of marijuana use is its long term impact for children and adolescents. The pediatric brain is highly malleable and continue...

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...o a more powerful and potentially more dangerous drug. Second, we know that teens who choose to smoke are using more of the drug than had been used previously. Instead of smoking a small 'joint' or two once a week, substance abuse professionals report that teens are smoking large 'blunts.' Not only are they exposed to more powerful marijuana, these blunts contain more of the drug itself. Worse, they report daily use. In the popular culture, the rapper Snoop Lion (formerly Snoop Dog) reports that he smokes dozens of blunts daily.

If you are the parent of a teen, should you be alarmed? The answer is yes. Don't let your teen think that smoking marijuana is safe or that there are no long term effects. Scientists are extremely concerned and are working hard to demonstrate the seriousness of the problem. Marijuana is a toxin and it should be treated as such.