Academics

How will legalizing marijuana affect our youth, schools and academics?

  1. Marijuana use is associated with a higher likelihood of dropping out from school.
  2. Marijuana use negatively effects motivation, memory, AND learning. A recent study published reports that adolescents who started using marijuana before the age of 18 (when their brains are still developing) and continued its use into adulthood, experienced as much as an 8-point decline in IQ scores.
  3. States that have legalized marijuana under the guise of medicine have higher marijuana use rates by youth aged 12-17 compared to other states.  2012-13 evidence in Colorado schools show that marijuana is a significantly growing problem.  National use among teens is growing rapidly.
  4. Marijuana use is strongly associated with juvenile crime. 
  5. Another difference between then and now is that marijuana users in the 1970s were most likely to smoke the leaves and initiate use around 20 years of age. Marijuana users today, however, start in their mid-teens and prefer to smoke the more potent flowering tops, (buds) of the plant. Research shows that young, regular (daily or near daily) users are most at risk for many of the adverse effects of marijuana, including mental health problems and dependence.  
  6. Marijuana IQ Study Successfully Defended by Scientists   (CADCA)    
  7. Another difference between then and now is that marijuana users in the 1970s were most likely to smoke the leaves and initiate use around 20 years of age. Marijuana users today, however, start in their mid-teens and prefer to smoke the more potent flowering tops, (buds) of the plant. Research shows that young, regular (daily or near daily) users are most at risk for many of the adverse effects of marijuana, including mental health problems and dependence .
  8. Research suggests that marijuana impairs critical thinking and memory functions during use and that these deficits persist for days after using. In addition, a long-term study showed that regular marijuana use in the early teen years lowers IQ into adulthood, even if users stopped smoking marijuana as adults.

http://www.justice.gov/dea/docs/marijuana_position_2011.pdf
http://www.samhsa.gov/data/nsduh/2k10nsduh/2k10results.htm
http://adai.uw.edu/marijuana/factsheets/potency.htm
http://adai.uw.edu/marijuana/factsheets/potency.htm#sthash.i3J5Efrg.dpufhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2910149/
http://www.nih.gov/news/health/jun2014/nida-04.htm
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22099393