New Study Suggests Teenage Pot Use Negatively Effects IQ’s
2A new study suggests that teenagers who smoke pot regularly might be permanently losing a few points off of their IQ.
As the Associated Press explains:
.. participants were tested for IQ twice in the study: once at age 13, and once at age 38. Based on a series of interviews conducted with the participants over time, researchers found that those who used marijuana regularly before the age of 18 showed a drop in IQ score. The same drop in IQ wasn’t found for those who began to smoke up regularly after 18.
In a nutshell, the more the participants smoked before age 18, the heavier the IQ loss was recorded by researchers. The participants ranged from heavy users to occasional smokers. Among the teenagers who smoked more than 4 times a week, the average drop in IQ was 8 points.
The findings seem to validate the stereotype that has been associated with “stoners” for many years.
So the IQ drops 8 points on average. I doubt this IQ drop would be strictly associated with just marijuana use. The people involved in the study may have used other substances due to the lack of control over the course of such a long study. I also highly doubt most users have a lower IQ than when they were 13 years old as this would suggest a serious drop in IQ, probably greater than 8 points. Also, there are studies out there that “suggest” there are no adverse effects to a persons IQ at all. However everyone is affected differently. Alcohol severely reduces cognitive function and with severe use, can cause death as it is a known poison. Marijuana contains no poison and one simply wouldn’t die from use. The study sounds biased in my opinion, as it doesn’t provide enough information about the study. We are supposed to assume that it is bad because some people smoked it and had an IQ drop of 8 points. If there was more information given I would take this study seriously, but it sounds like more propaganda to me. Just my two cents…
I agree with the points that you made. Both alcohol and pot can have negatively effects on IQs. I think that regular pot use may have a more substantial effect than alcohol when it comes to performing in school however.