The younger you are when you use marijuana may increase your risk of developing drug abuse in adulthood according to a new study.
Sherika Hill, Ph.D. is the lead author of the study “Predicting Persistent, Limited, and Delayed Problematic Cannabis Use in Early Adulthood: Findings From a Longitudinal Study”which was published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
Hill assessed data from more than a thousand participants who were followed each year from age 9 to age 30. According to the data, it was found that increased legalization of marijuana will lead to more problems among young adults.
In another study called “Age of Cannabis Use Onset and Adult Drug Abuse Symptoms: A Prospective Study of Common Risk Factors and Indirect Effects,” published in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, Charlie Rioux, Ph.D.. and her colleagues revealed “that boys who start smoking pot before 15 are much more likely to have a drug problem at 28 than those who start at 15 or after.”
Carolyn Coffey, Ph.D., and George C. Patton, M.D., have reported in the Journal of Canadian Psychiatry, “The adverse consequences of cannabis use are most clear-cut in heavy early adolescent users. These consequences include educational failure, persisting mental health problems, and progression to other substance use.”
