The probems of marijuana use

Many of my old Free Clinic patients won’t want to believe this – indeed, many will vehemently deny it – but the evidence is slowly accumulating that marijuana (aka dope and dozens of other names) is harmful for young kids, and probably harmful (in high doses) for young adults, too, in large part perhaps, because compared to what was once the case in my generation’s era, the dope the kids are using now is “turbo-charged”.

Thus, over the last 2 weeks, we’ve seen 1) one small study (14 patients) that linked heavy marijuana use in adolescents with brain abnormalities (a study that cannot, of course, determine cause-and-effect, so although I doubt that this is the connection, it is possible that kids with pre-existing brain abnormalities are those kids who are more likely to engage in heavy marijuana use in the first place, perhaps to help them deal with their psychiatric or emotional problems; in other words, the dope use in such kids might be a symptom of their condition rather than a cause of the brain abnormality, although I strongly doubt it), and 2) another study that linked heavy use of marijuana by young men to a higher risk of an unusual form of testicular cancer.

These reports build on an increasing number of others that have linked heavy marijuana use to potential genetic damage, and to pulmonary changes (higher risks of emphysema, chronic bronchitis) and perhaps even to lung cancer, too.

Bottom line: I am dead certain that over the next few years, we will see ever more studies that show that heavier marijuana use (and we don’t, of course, have good definitions for terms like “heavy”, not to mention that some people are probably way more sensitive to light use of marijuana than others are) is linked to health problems, and that we will eventually have to acknowledge that marijuana is a potent drug, and although it’s so widely used, it has a potential (perhaps even a great one) to harm some users, especially, of course, kids.