Pubdate: Mon, 06 Oct 2014 Source: Province, The (CN BC) Copyright: 2014 Postmedia Network Inc. Contact: http://www2.canada.com/theprovince/letters.html Website: http://www.theprovince.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476 Authors: Doctors Oz and Roizen (Mehmet Oz and Mike Roizen) Column: Health Tips Page: B5 POT LEGALITY DOESN'T MEAN IT'S SMART TO USE With clever names like Peace of Mind, Girl Scout Cookies, Train Wreck and Tsunami, it's a good bet the marketers of legal marijuana finished high school. That's less certain for their younger customers. New research shows daily marijuana use before the age of 17 cuts your chances of graduating from high school or getting a college degree by 60 per cent. And that information is just the tip of the joint. Now that marijuana is legal for recreational use in Washington state and Colorado, and for medical purposes in 19 other states plus the District of Columbia, scientists are able to study the drug more closely. The result is an outpouring of data on marijuana's formerly unknown or underappreciated risks. One new study found 40 percent of cannabis-using adolescents receiving treatment for substance abuse report symptoms of withdrawal - - a true marker for drug dependence (addiction). And kids are eight times more likely to use illicit drugs later in life if they smoke marijuana regularly. Another study found adolescents who smoke pot daily-shed an average of six IQ points by adulthood; points you're not getting back, and that can mean the difference between an engaged, rewarding life and not! So just because the drug is legal in some places, doesn't mean it's smart to use it. Like Derek Jeter says: "If you have dreams and aspirations to be successful, drugs and alcohol are only going to alter those dreams." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom