Shocking news: Marihuana is bad for you, kids!

Teenagers who smoke marijuana daily are over 60 percent less likely to complete high school than those who never use. They're also 60 percent less likely to graduate college and seven times more likely to attempt suicide. Those are the startling conclusions of a new study of adolescent cannabis use out today in The Lancet Psychiatry, a British journal of health research.

In a conference call, study co-author Edmund Sillins said that the relationship between cannabis use and negative outcomes is significant even at low levels of use (e.g., less than monthly), and that "the results suggest that there may not be a threshold where use can be deemed safe" for teens.

Source.

At least you wont to waste time and money on college, though.

The key word here is daily. This sounds like unnecessary fear mongering

"Edmund Sillins said that the relationship between cannabis use and negative outcomes is significant even at low levels of use (e.g., less than monthly), and that "the results suggest that there may not be a threshold where use can be deemed safe" for teens."

Reading fail.

Only stoners are in favor of legalizing marihuana.

Still, this is at best a correlation. There are so many potential factors why one would not complete school.

Sounds like a great reason not to sell it to children, something basically nobody argues for.

Said the tobacco companies.

What's marijuana?

Are you thegerg?

Marijuana=Marihuana.

No I'm somebody else.

And what's marihuana?

Yeah, this. That's an awful lot to be getting high (unless it's for medicinal reasons or something, which you know is not the case for most people who smoke daily). This sounds like another case of correlation getting confused with causation. Rather than daily smoking causing people to be losers, chances are that the fact that they're already losers is causing them to smoke daily.

A car.

then why is it a bad thing?

Is it?

Shocking news: people who dislike marijuana don't understand the difference between correlation and causation. Also, people who don't like marijuana seem to commonly lack literacy (nowhere does it say marijuana is bad for you in the article).

Not very surprising, to say the least, non-marijuana users have been less literate than marijuana users for quite some time now - they're the ones making the arguments based on inability to read things correctly.

Hell - I know for a fact they'd find the exact same results about cigarette smokers too - the only people I know who smoke cigarettes are high-school drop outs (or was almost one). I guess this means that cigarette smoking harms your brain too! It couldn't be because poor, uneducated people are more likely to use drugs than educated, wealthy people...just couldn't be...that'd make too much sense .

Marihuana may be, but not Marijuana.

@Master_Live: The OP said so.

Regardless of this bullshit article I don't think teenagers should be smoking weed until 19 anyway.

I agree, but it's probably a little idealistic, especially with the way Hollywood glamorizes marijuana use (more in the last decade than ever). I can only speak from experience because I feel like I'm in the weed capital of America (Seattle), it's pretty regular for kids to start smoking weed around 13-15 years old, the kids who don't touch it are definitely in the minority around here, and the ones who don't touch it typically have firm anti-drug and anti-fun policies (rigid study schedules, don't enjoy socializing or require as much spare time to be happy). Obviously people more motivated to finish school aren't going to let weed effect thing in any way. People less motivated to finish school probably don't care about the impact of weed on their life, but then again, it's not going to be the sole reason that they don't do well in school.

So does drug use lead to failure or does failure lead to drug use?

Correlation doesn't mean causation.

I'd say there's obvious sociological factors that aren't being considered, like say in the US for instance people caught with pot are unable to obtain student loans to go to school severely contributing to the statistic they don't go to or finish college, which itself contributes to a whole host of issues in their socio-economic mobility.

Yeah, most of the kids I knew in HS who were huge stoners were never particularly good students in elementary or grade school before they had ever smoked pot. Anecdotal, for sure, but I imagine that's a common theme.

I don't think anyone would argue that abusing Marijuana (or anything...even healthy things like exercise) is good for you. The argument could be made that marijuana abuse isn't nearly as bad for you as other substances, however. Pot has some medical benefits for people suffering certain diseases and moderate use in adults is likely to have no serious side effects.

Children shouldn't be smoking anything, whether it is weed or if it is cigarettes. Their bodies haven't finished developing at that point in life. Granted, since they are teens and by default automatically assume that they are smarter than every adult in history they are probably going to do it anyway. Once they are adults I really don't care what they do as long as they can function in society and don't hurt anybody else.

You don't automatically lose FAFSA eligibility forever just because you was caught with a joint. You have to be convicted of drug possession or selling drugs while you are already receiving student aid to lose eligibility and you can get it back by going to drug rehabilitation classes. If you lose eligibility, you have a much better chance of getting your eligibility back if you was only convicted for possession versus selling.

Iv blazed everyday since i was 15(22 now) and for the past year or so iv smoked around a half o a week, thats 2 grams a day. its no different than coffee and cigarettes to me, nothing wrong with daily use if you can afford it

• Did you finish High School?
• Did you finish College? [Did you ever intended to attend?]
• Do you have a job?

I have no plans for post secondary education at the moment, and yes I have a job and graduated

correlation doesn't equal causation, shouldn't you have learned that in college?

That's fine, make it available to people when they hit 20-21. This isn't the first I have heard that it's bad for developing young minds.

Is not that simple. too bad they don't seem to teach that at Statistics 101.

And only alcoholics are in favor of alcohol being legal because, obviously, there are no downsides to prohibition outside of not getting drunk/high when you want to.

It's bad for everyone really, at least at certain doses, but I think that misses the point. We don't outlaw things simply because they are bad for those who choose to consume them.

I agree an age limit is wise, though. I don't disagree with your conclusion.

I wouldn't know, I didn't take Statistics 101

That's why more studies are needed to show that there is a relation of cause and effect. And there are more studies on it showing that. Though they rarely are given enough attention. When you get a handful of studies that show negative effect, even some permanent ones, then you already have evidence of the cause and effect relation of marijuana and the existance of negative effects we should be worried about.

pretty much this. Not a fan of pot, but be factual TC

Some folks are not good at moderation. And let me tell you from experience, as much as one tries to control their desires for using intoxicants and not becoming habituated...often times the intoxicant holds too much influence and rational thinking and self control go out the window.

Personally, I will never be able to moderate marijuana use. It kills my motivation to reach my full potential and be the most productive I can be, plain and simple. Granted it did not help that I started using it at 14 years old before I was able to fully develop my moral compass, and ended up being led into stronger intoxicants. The old adage 'marijuana is a gateway drug' is not just a scare tactic, it is reality. For some, like hippies, these substances become a lifestyle and an integral part of one's daily life. Who's to say how one should live and what they should or should not put in their bodies?

It may not be addicting like cocaine or heroin, but to say one cannot be at risk of becoming habituated at a young age and having it affect their growth and development both physically and mentally, well I say any warning geared towards young people is never unnecessary, perhaps unwelcome, but I believe OP has good intentions.

LOL ya thegerg is literal-bobtroll :D

You know obvious troll is obvious and you might want to find another act that isn't already been used and have gotten older then Methusalem.

With regular marijuana use as a teenager/young adult comes a particular way of life (a "stoner"). There are regular users who work in the stock market, governments and other fast-paced environments and don't suffer these same ill effects.

Marijuana doesn't make people lazy. The lifestyle associated with it does.

Well if they aren't concerned about endogeneity then this is a pretty worthless study.

Ehmm, that is factual wrong. THC is known to not only be a very potent drug but also highly relaxing, so yes THC does indeed make users "lazy"

And yet people can smoke it and work a regular job.

Correlation does not imply causation.

lies

As much as I believe marijuana should be legal (I don't even use it by the way), teens really shouldn't be taking the stuff anyway.

I don't think a lot of teenagers who smoke it really understand the potential effects of regular pot use. So yes, of course it's going to be bad for a lot of them.

Save that shit for when they're a bit older and out of school.

And on the flip side, recent studies have shown that marijuana smokers have a higher HDL:LDL ratio, have less insulin resistance, and to top it off, they paradoxically have smaller waist-lines than non smokers. Yeah, I know, marijuana almost always leads to hyperphagia but there is a theory that it some how helps your body metabolize fats better. Sure, if you go on an eating binge eating nothing but McDonalds, you're gonna get fat, but think about all the stoners from your school...most were average weight or below weight.