The association between early marijuana use and health problems. A longitudinal study

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=18393060

Interesting read.

So you bought the article then? I'm assuming "interesting read" doesn't just come from the abstract. Can't seem to find it anywhere that isn't going to require that drastic step of paying money ($35 was one quote I saw). If you have access to it, why don't you go and reprint it here for those who are interested yet don't have the money/will to pay? I doubt anyone will find out or be pissed or anything. Unless you wrote it and are trying to gain some extra funds by posting it up here.

I've smoked weed for over 40 years and thank god if it wern't for it I'd of killed myself by now no shit!!
So what could be worse than that??
It's not for every one neither is booze, or mushrooms, depends on what kind of person you are.
Weed works for me.

big surprise there..... principal author's been a NIDA (national institute on drug abuse) lapdog since 1982.

http://www.researchcrossroads.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=49&Itemid=2&user_id=1188151

Ted Bundy smoked marijuana. LOOK WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM

Steve French said:

So you bought the article then? I'm assuming "interesting read" doesn't just come from the abstract. Can't seem to find it anywhere that isn't going to require that drastic step of paying money ($35 was one quote I saw). If you have access to it, why don't you go and reprint it here for those who are interested yet don't have the money/will to pay? I doubt anyone will find out or be pissed or anything. Unless you wrote it and are trying to gain some extra funds by posting it up here.

Click to expand...

I didn't realize that. I was using my dad's comp. and found this article, not realizing he has an account with this website thru his job. I'll try and get the PDF on here but I'd rather not risk copyright issues from the government on a pot website >_<

mellokitty said:

big surprise there..... principal author's been a NIDA (national institute on drug abuse) lapdog since 1982.

http://www.researchcrossroads.org/in...ser_id=1188151

Click to expand...

A "lapdog"? Drug abuse was most likely his collegiate area of study, how does that make him a lapdog? I'm as big a pothead as the next person, but the fact is..weed DOES fuck you up. I still smoke myself comatose though yadadadadadimean?

Maybe my life is the anomaly but when I look around I just don't see the truth to that article. Sure I know some pot heads that have trouble paying rent, seem to be mentally challenged, make poor decisions constantly, and seem to have difficulty learning. I think they were like that before weed though. I also look around and see people within this company that totally defy those claims. They are healthy, intelligent, motivated people and they are very successful in everything they do.

guy incognito said:

Maybe my life is the anomaly but when I look around I just don't see the truth to that article. Sure I know some pot heads that have trouble paying rent, seem to be mentally challenged, make poor decisions constantly, and seem to have difficulty learning. I think they were like that before weed though. I also look around and see people within this company that totally defy those claims. They are healthy, intelligent, motivated people and they are very successful in everything they do.

Click to expand...

It's not relating the effects of cannabis to these problems in general, but the study itself is based on people who started inhaling early (age 13-14) and continued inhaling until age 27. Cannabis has been linked to causing schizophrenia, but in turn that schizophrenia gives rise to greater abstract reasoning powers (ie. mathematics and metaphysical concepts). Than they threw in a comparison between high school and college grades and the grades were usually abysmally lower (most likely due to lack of motivation to study) during the early education years (16-22), however the potheads seemed to pick up and take off educationally later in life (25+). The article itself is just showcasing THC's dampening effects on the developing brain and personality. Only reason I'm even sharing this article is because not only have I observed and/or experienced these problems w/Weed to some degree, but so has everyone else who's ever smoked (anyone who says otherwise is really just lying to you and justifying the habit). Still love my mary jane tho.<3

I wonder how much selection bias is introduced by choosing smokers who started that early. That choice suggests a strong escapist motive, i.e. those kids' lives sucked for whatever reason, and they got high to get away.
A similar study with smokers who started at 17 or 18 would be a useful counterpoint imo. cn

cannabineer said:

I wonder how much selection bias is introduced by choosing smokers who started that early. That choice suggests a strong escapist motive, i.e. those kids' lives sucked for whatever reason, and they got high to get away.
A similar study with smokers who started at 17 or 18 would be a useful counterpoint imo. cn

Click to expand...

The study subjects were volunteers. There's plenty of tokers out there who don't burn tree to run away from things, and a lot of the ppl in this test came from upstate new york (the nicer more suburbanized areas). I do agree that for a good counterpoint they should have a test on 18yr+, although the brain is still developing at that age. The kids in this test,however, were daily smokers and not your average, recreational, 2-3x/week smokers. Me myself smoke like 4 blunts a day, so I took an interest to this article..

Yeah. The kids that were burning in jr high at age 13 had mental problems before they started toking. I always thought it was more correlation rather than causation. Because those kids had a lack of motivation and didn't do very well in school, or anything, before they started smoking.

"Man, this is crazy, I hope I didn't brain my damage" -Homer

guy incognito said:

Yeah. The kids that were burning in jr high at age 13 had mental problems before they started toking. I always thought it was more correlation rather than causation. Because those kids had a lack of motivation and didn't do very well in school, or anything, before they started smoking.

Click to expand...

Don't want to disagree with you, but I started smoking in 6th grade lol (once every few weeks) and then went to every weekend in middle school and then every day in hs/college(where i'm at now).. I would prefer to believe that I myself do not have a mental disease..LOL

There are simply too many variables to make claims like this. I`ll give it a few examples.

If a boy was to deprive himself of learning by becoming a rebel for whatever reason, he will not learn as much as another may do, simply because he is blocking himself. Looking at the amount of science I did from the ages of 13-18 (daily toking starts at 1 I can clearly see what I would of missed if I was chilling out with my bong on a gaming console or PC all day long.

Then again, this boy might have his hormones going crazy, had a weird childhood... Maybe he can see straight through our education system and life, maybe he can just filter the bullshit and see the goodshit from age 13. At age 24 he may realise that life lasts fairly long and there are lots that a career can provide, and maybe he might want to get his act together. Trying to say that weed may calm his crazy mind down until his rebellion is over and he can proceed.

I really belive that the mind is trained to be the way it is. Each thing you do daily will train your mind in one respect. Take for example someone doing Yoga, after a fair amount they will appear calmer and less stressful. Take a musician, they just seem to get better at maths. Anything we do just trains our brain. Years of anger and we develop a short fuse. Just similarly, getting high all the time will train your brain to be high... Like less observant, more content, more fogetful etc...

So I say cut the bullshit. There are just TOO MANY VARIABLES to go about making claims like this.

hyphyjoose said:

Drug abuse was most likely his collegiate area of study, how does that make him a lapdog?

Click to expand...

i very much doubt that she had neutral feelings towards "drug abuse" before she started studying it. scientists are human too, if you look at the list of projects she's headed up since 1982, there's a pretty obvious "WEED IS BAD" theme happening.

hyphyjoose said:

Don't want to disagree with you, but I started smoking in 6th grade lol (once every few weeks) and then went to every weekend in middle school and then every day in hs/college(where i'm at now).. I would prefer to believe that I myself do not have a mental disease..LOL

Click to expand...

But by and large the kids smoking in jr high were more from the "loser" clique rather than the honor student clique.

And I think it's just personality. Of course someone that is raised right, and is intelligent, and is highly motivated to perform well in school and extra curricular activities is going to avoid "drugs" at age 13. And someone that has no more ambition than to play video games is going to want to smoke all day.

I didn't start smoking until age 22, but i'm pretty sure if I started at 13 I would still be as intelligent and motivated as I am today. I don't think weed changed me in that respect because I am still motivated and intelligent and I still get shit done.

hyphyjoose said:

It's not relating the effects of cannabis to these problems in general, but the study itself is based on people who started inhaling early (age 13-14) and continued inhaling until age 27. Cannabis has been linked to causing schizophrenia, but in turn that schizophrenia gives rise to greater abstract reasoning powers (ie. mathematics and metaphysical concepts). Than they threw in a comparison between high school and college grades and the grades were usually abysmally lower (most likely due to lack of motivation to study) during the early education years (16-22), however the potheads seemed to pick up and take off educationally later in life (25+). The article itself is just showcasing THC's dampening effects on the developing brain and personality. Only reason I'm even sharing this article is because not only have I observed and/or experienced these problems w/Weed to some degree, but so has everyone else who's ever smoked (anyone who says otherwise is really just lying to you and justifying the habit). Still love my mary jane tho.<3

Click to expand...

I have not read the article, but based upon this statement that is highlighted, they have lost credibility with me. Middle and high school education did not sufficiently prepare student's for college. When No Child Left Behind was passed, the education system turned into a business; schools must show annual progress to receive federal funds, so standardized testing was really pushed. These test consist of questions that do not really require high level thinking, just regurgitation. That comparison is ridiculous.

ive been smoking for longer than that so i guess i am already a lost cause. i will keep using mj.

I did good in school.
I finished!!!!

hyphyjoose said:

Don't want to disagree with you, but I started smoking in 6th grade lol (once every few weeks) and then went to every weekend in middle school and then every day in hs/college(where i'm at now).. I would prefer to believe that I myself do not have a mental disease..LOL

Click to expand...

ROFLMAO!!