Pubdate: Wed, 29 Aug 2012
Source: Gisborne Herald (New Zealand)
Copyright: 2012 The Gisborne Herald Co. Ltd
Contact: http://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/Contact/
Website: http://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/924
Author: Jeremy Muir

WE NEED TO STOP OUR YOUNG PEOPLE FRYING THEIR BRAINS

In a country with more than its fair share of pot smokers, this 
district is known for its high marijuana use. Some call it our 
laidback East Coast style.

United Nations drug reports consistently rank Kiwis among the highest 
cannabis users in the world, at 13-14 percent of the adult 
population. The 2009 report found New Zealand teenagers to be the 
highest users among their peers around the world.

So new research showing the harmful effects of marijuana use before 
the age of 18 should make us pull together in our communities and 
redouble efforts to stop our youth smoking this drug.

It should also prompt a national debate about our drug laws, and how 
ineffective they are at keeping cannabis out of the lungs and brains 
of young Kiwis.

The study of over 1000 people in Dunedin showed that those who 
started using marijuana as young teenagers, and kept using it for 
years, had an average decline in IQ of eight points. Quitting later 
on did not reverse the loss.

Those who started smoking pot after age 18 did not show a similar 
fall in mental capacity.

Lead researcher Madeline Meier says the loss from an IQ of 100 to 92 
represents a fall from a median IQ, in the 50th percentile, to being 
in the 29th percentile; and higher IQs correlate with higher 
education, higher income, better health and a longer life.

"Clearly we must focus energy on reducing the prevalence of cannabis 
use in adolescence," says Dr. Simon Adamson of the National Addiction Centre.

There has been an improvement since 2009; when the 2012 UN world drug 
report was released, NZ Drug Foundation director Ross Bell said an 
annual survey showed drug use among secondary school students was 
slowly declining.

However, the rate was still high, with about 80 percent of students 
having tried drugs at some point throughout their adolescence.

Don't wait for a government solution, though - schools and families 
need to use this new information to stress the dangers of drug use to 
their children.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom