Heavy Marijuana Use in Teens–NBC News Report
There are more articles out today about the effects of marijuana on teen brains. One that caught my attention reported on a study out of Northwestern University co-led by Dr. John Csernansky. Using the latest MRI technology, Csernansky and his research team found that three years of daily marijuana use could affect the shape of the hippocampus . The hippocampus is the part of the brain that we use to make and store new memories. Interestingly, it is same brain region that is destroyed by Alzheimer’s.
I won’t go into all the details of the study. And I don’t wish to start an argument about pot. What struck me about this article is the issue of heavy marijuana use. As every parent knows, it is impossible to convince teens that smoking marijuana is probably not a good idea. There are dozens of reasons why, but none will be heard. What should be heard, however, is that daily use over months or years may due serious harm.
But the issue is not weed. The issue is use, or more accurately, heavy use. It doesn’t matter what substance we are talking about. Smoking large amounts of weed every day is a problem. But so is drinking large amounts of alcohol, or large amounts of coffee, or soda. The problem is that heavy use of anything can be dangerous. Even drinking too much water is dangerous, because you can trigger a fatal condition called hyponatremia (water intoxication). And it is possible to exercise too much.
So let’s stop arguing about whether weed is harmful. It is for all kinds of reasons, but the real problems begin when a person uses too much and uses it too often. This study shows us the consequences of daily marijuana use. Not if it changes the teen brain, but where the changes are occurring. The message is pretty simple. Use too much, use too often and this is going to happen.
Legalized or not, using too much too often is a problem, especially in an adolescent brain. We welcome your comments and questions.
Check out the original article here: http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/legal-pot/kids-who-smoke-pot-grow-um-i-forget-n322476
Dr. Marshall administrator
Richard Marshall earned an Ed.D. in reading and learning disabilities at West Virginia University in 1982. While completing his doctoral studies he served as an educational specialist in the Pediatric Neurology. Upon completion of his degree he became an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the WVU Medical School. After moving to Florida in 1983, he joined the faculty in the Department of Pediatrics in the College of Medicine at the University of South Florida and worked for five years in the Neonatal Developmental Follow-Up Program. In 1993, he completed a Ph.D. in School Psychology at the University of Georgia with an emphasis in Child and Adolescent Neuropsychology. Upon degree completion, he taught courses in the biological bases of behavior and neuropsychology at the University of Texas in Austin. He also served as developmental psychologist at the Children’s Hospital of Austin. He and his family returned to Florida in 2001 and he once more became a faculty member at the University of South Florida. He is presently an Associate Professor in the College of Education and he is an adjunct associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences at the USF College of Medicine. In 2008, Dr. Marshall co-authored the Pediatric Behavior Rating Scale; in 2011, he co-authored The Middle School Mind: Growing Pains in Early Adolescent Brains (2011) and is currently revising the Handbook for Raising an Emotionally Healthy Child (2012). In addition to writing and a busy schedule of workshops and presentations, Dr. Marshall also maintains a private practice in Lakeland, Florida where he specializes in the assessment and treatment of children and adults with emotional, behavioral, and learning disorders; parenting; family therapy; and couples counseling. As part of that practice he maintains a daily blog and he co-hosts The Mental Breakdown Podcast (iTunes, Google Play Music, and YouTube) and the Psychreg Podcast. He has spoken to professional and community groups throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and South America.
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