Teen cannabis use linked to IQ loss
The multi-disciplinary study showed that people who started smoking cannabis as teenagers may suffer from IQ decline when they're in their thirties. Image: diego_cervo/iStockphoto Persistent cannabis users who started using the drug before age 18 show an average IQ decline of 8 points and other signs of impaired mental functioning by age 38, according to world-first research emerging from the University of Otago’s long-running Dunedin Multidisciplinary Study.The Study has followed the progress of 1000 Dunedin-born people since their birth in 1972/73 and is one of the most detailed studies of human health and development ever undertaken. The latest findings are newly published in a paper appearing in the US journal PNAS Plus co-authored by researchers from Otago, Duke University and King’s College London. Below is a fact sheet of the study produced by the researchers. The findings:We studied the association between persistent cannabis use and IQ decline and asked whether IQ decline was concentrated...