Teens Smoking Marijuana Not Linked to Disorders & Disease

The American Psychological Association has issued a new study where it reported that teens using marijuana are not inclined to develop depression, lung cancer or other diseases later on in life.

Marijuana, a recreational drug, is made of dried leaves and flowers of the Cannabis plant, used for its euphoric effects. It was discovered in the mountainous regions of India.

Despite persistent legal restrictions, marijuana is continuously widely used in countries such as The Netherlands or the US, for its mood-altering effects and its medicinal properties and applications. Several states in the US and the District of Columbia have legalized the drug.

So, according to the study published by the American Psychological Association,it is not linked to physical or mental disorders such as depression, asthma or psychotic symptoms.

A team of scientists from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Rutgers University monitored 408 males, ranging from adolescents to men in their mid-30s for the study published in the journal Psychology of Addictive Behaviors.

Jordan Bechtold, lead researcher and psychology research representative at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, said that the results were surprising. Regardless of the amount or frequency of marijuana use during adolescence, no differences were spotted in any mental or physical health outcomes that had been estimated and measured.

Furthermore, no asthma, cancer, respiratory problems and psychotic symptoms, such as delusions or hallucinations, have been linked to marijuana use. Also, no connections were established between teen marijuana use and depressive disorders, headaches, anxiety or high blood pressure. Bechtold added that the study tracked down a significant number of participants, along two decades of their lives, and thus, a correlation was made between marijuana use and long-term health effects.

The current research was an extension of a previous one, aimed to analyze social and health issues. Moreover, there were no discrepancies in the findings, based on race or ethnicity.

No conclusions were issued about females, as the study subjects were exclusively male. The male participants had been divided into groups, according to the following criteria: low or non-users, early chronic users, those who smoked marijuana expressly during adolescence, and males who began using marijuana later in their teen years and continued to use the drug.

Bechtol continued by saying that he and his team wanted to contribute positively to the debate of legalizing marijuana, however, one study should not be taken in isolation and that this was still a controversial, complicated issue.

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