‘There were no differences in any of the mental or physical health outcomes that we measured regardless of the amount or frequency of marijuana used during adolescence.’. For the research, the health problems included asthma, depression, and signs of psychosis.
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Based on other studies in the past that seemed to allude to marijuana use and later development of psychotic symptoms such as delusions or hallucinations, the researchers had thought they might find some associations to disease or other health conditions.
In the study 408 adult men were split into four groups according to the cannabis consumption when they were teenagers. The first group used marijuana sparingly or not at all; the second group consisted of long time users; the third group were already users during their teen years; the fourth group were late users and continued to be users. Of course, there has been growing concern over the potential health risks associated with increasing use within the community particularly among teens who will start using marijuana early in life and carry it on for many decades. As a matter of fact, the researchers wrote, no notable differences were seen between the health prognoses of marijuana trajectory groups, despite the absence of possible confounding controls on the models. The early chronic users smoked a great deal – a peak of more than 200 days per year on average when they were 22 years old.
Tobacco use and ethnicity were among the factors considered, but the researchers said that they did not make much difference.
Lead researcher Dr Jordan Bechtold said: ‘What we found was a little surprising.
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The researchers wanted to contribute to the debate regarding the legalization of marijuana, says Bechtold.
