Odds Against Teens Who Abuse Marijuana

Posted by azdrugrehabctr on October 28, 2014 under Addiction Trends | Comments are off for this article

Despite the belief of some people that marijuana is harmless and that more states should legalize the drug, studies are showing that marijuana really does have many negative effects. One major discovery of marijuana abuse among teenagers is the large number of teens who drop out of high school.

A recent study shows that teenagers who smoke marijuana on regular basis are 60% less likely to finish high school. Additionally, young people who abuse marijuana regularly are 60% less likely to finish college. The suicide rate for youths who abuse marijuana is higher as well, as teens who smoke weed are reportedly seven times more likely to attempt suicide than those who do not abuse marijuana. Also, despite some assertion that marijuana is not a gateway drug, this study shows that regular users of marijuana are eight times more likely to use other, harder drugs.

The research looks into three multi-year studies that were conducted on teenagers in New Zealand and Australia. Researchers used the data because it provided them a large pool of people and therefore made the results more accurate. They were confident with stating the negative correlation between marijuana use and all negative outcomes of a teenager’s life because of the overwhelming information gathered from the studies.

These studies, among others that have been conducted, are proving to many people in government that protecting children from marijuana is vital, especially now that many states are entertaining the legalization of the drug. Studies like this show that although some people may think that marijuana is safe, no one really knows how it affects growing, developing brains and the decisions that children make. Currently there are several studies in the works to investigate teen marijuana abuse, addiction and the effects of marijuana on teen’s bodies and lives.