Study: No link between teen pot use and adult health issues

[bemildred]

Teenage marijuana use does not lead to mental health or respiratory problems later in life, according to a new study that contradicts previous research linking mental illness in adulthood and youth pot smoking.

The study, released this week in the journal Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, followed the smoking habits of young men who were “chronic” smokers in their early teens who continued into their mid-20s and others who smoked rarely or never. The study also monitored men who smoked only as teens and others who smoked in their later teens and continued through their 20s.

The participants included white and black males, and the study factored in tobacco use. Ethnicity did not make a difference in the results, researchers said. The 408 participants came from a pool of 800 seventh-graders randomly selected from Pittsburgh public schools in the late 1980s. They formed part of the Pittsburgh Youth Study, a federal research program run by the Justice Department to examine drug use and juvenile delinquency.

On the basis of previous studies, the researchers expected to find evidence of mental illness, including depression, anxiety, psychotic symptoms or hallucinations.

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/8/5/teen-pot-use-not-linked-to-mental-illness.html

[RussBLib]

1. it takes years to get past the propaganda

If anything, I would expect youthful pot smokers to be even healthier than non-pot smokers.

Pot smokers and masturbaters: the healthiest people around.

[kristopher]

2. Here is the abstract from the study discussed

I always prefer going to the source when possible.

Chronic Adolescent Marijuana Use as a Risk Factor for Physical and Mental Health Problems in Young Adult Men
Jordan Bechtold Theresa Simpson and Helene R. White
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Dustin Pardini
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Rutgers University

Some evidence suggests that youth who use marijuana heavily during adolescence may be particularly prone to health problems in later adulthood (e.g., respiratory illnesses, psychotic symptoms). However, relatively few longitudinal studies have prospectively examined the long-term physical and mental health consequences associated with chronic adolescent marijuana use.

The present study used data from a longitudinal sample of Black and White young men to determine whether different developmental patterns of marijuana use, assessed annually from early adolescence to the mid-20s, were associated with adverse physical (e.g., asthma, high blood pressure) and mental (e.g., psychosis, anxiety disorders) health outcomes in the mid-30s.

Analyses also examined whether chronic marijuana use was more strongly associated with later health problems in Black men relative to White men.

Findings from latent class growth curve analysis identified 4 distinct subgroups of marijuana users: early onset chronic users, late increasing users, adolescence-limited users, and low/nonusers.

Results indicated that the 4 marijuana use trajectory groups were not significantly different in terms of their physical and mental health problems assessed in the mid-30s.

The associations between marijuana group membership and later health problems did not vary significantly by race.

Findings are discussed in the context of a larger body of work investigating the potential long-term health consequences of early onset chronic marijuana use, as well as the complications inherent in studying the possible link between marijuana use and health effects.

Supplemental materials: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/adb0000103.supp

Full study in open access journal: http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/adb-adb0000103.pdf

Thanks for posting this bemildred