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."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom