Pubdate: Mon, 20 Apr 2015
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2015 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/letters.html
Website: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: Elizabeth Payne
Page: A6
Cited: Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse: http://www.ccsa.ca/

EARLY USE OF POT LINKED TO LOWER IQS

New research finds one in six who start young develop dependency

Teens who start smoking marijuana early and do so frequently risk
lowering their IQ scores, according to research from the Canadian
Centre on Substance Abuse, which found evidence that early and
frequent cannabis use can alter the structure of the developing brain.

The research, part of a larger study due out in June, was released
Monday, a day - April 20 - that has become a counterculture holiday to
celebrate marijuana, as part of a bid to raise awareness about the
negative effects of marijuana use among adolescents.

In past years, thousands of people, the majority teenagers and young
adults, have flocked to Parliament Hill on April 20 to smoke
marijuana. Similar rallies take place around the world.

While use of marijuana among Canadian teens and adults has decreased
in recent years, it remains the most commonly used illegal drug among
Canadian youth - at about three times the rate of adults. And Canadian
youth are the top users of cannabis in the developed world, according
to a 2013 UNICEF report.

The growing body of evidence about the effects of cannabis use during
adolescence is reason for concern, said Amy Porath-Waller, the CCSA's
lead researcher on the issue.

"I think we should be very concerned," Porath-Waller said. "Canada's =C2=85

young people have the highest rate of cannabis use compared to other
developed countries. There is a need to take a pause and consider that
this is the future of our country. We certainly want to prepare our
youth so that they can be productive members of society in terms of
employment so there certainly is reason that Canada needs to be
concerned about cannabis use among young people."

Equally concerning, she said, is the perception among many Canadian
youth that cannabis is benign and has no effect on their ability to
drive or their performance in school.

Canadian teens might be the world's biggest users of marijuana in the
developed world, but they use alcohol at a far greater rate, including
binge drinking.

There is growing evidence about the effects of cannabis on teen
brains, but more research needs to be done, Porath-Waller said. The
CCSA report to be released in June, The Effects of Cannabis Use during
Adolescence, will gather some of that evidence.

It released a glimpse of that report Monday, including findings
that:

Cannabis use negatively affects cognitive and motor functions and is a
safety hazard for drivers;

Early and frequent cannabis use is linked with lower IQ scores, lower
school performance and the risk of dropping out;

There is "consistent evidence" of a link between psychosis and
cannabis use;

About one out of six people who start using cannabis during
adolescence will develop a dependency. That rate is higher than among
adults; and

"Adolescents are at particular risk for cannabis-related harms since
their brains are undergoing rapid and extensive development,"
according to the research.

A key factor in the impact of cannabis is its potency, which,
according to Porath-Waller, has almost quadrupled in the past 25
years. "It is not the cannabis of the '60s and '70s."

Porath-Waller said researchers are beginning to consider whether
studies done decades ago are even useful anymore because of the
increased potency of cannabis.

The centre for substance abuse has also done research into
cannabis-impaired driving, which is increasingly being recognized and
prosecuted.

"It is very clear that cannabis does impair driving ability in a
number of areas, similar to alcohol, but slightly different," said
Doug Beirness, lead researcher on drug-impaired driving. Among other
things, he said, cannabis use impairs a person's ability to "plan a
series of events necessary to accomplish a goal. After cannabis you
tend to make mistakes doing that."

Researchers found a disconnect between the views of adolescents and
the reality of the effects of cannabis on driving, among other things.
During a series of focus groups, researchers heard many say that
smoking marijuana made them better drivers.

Increasingly, coroners are testing for drugs in addition to alcohol
after fatal crashes. Cannabis is the second-most-common substance,
behind alcohol, found in fatal injury crashes.

The message from researchers, who have travelled to Colorado to study
the effects of marijuana liberalization there, is that cannabis is not
benign. Loosening of criminal laws around marijuana should not
disguise that fact, they say.

"We know there are harms associated with cannabis," said
Porath-Waller.

"We need to increase awareness among the public and among young people
that the marijuana of today is different than that of previous
generations. It has impacts on brain functioning, there are
implications for kids in school and implications for driving."
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MAP posted-by: Matt