Smoking Pot No Risk to IQ, Study Says

[superjoint]

By Andre Picard, Public Health Reporter
Source: Globe and Mail

Smoking pot may leave you stoned, but it apparently won't make you stupid. Researchers at Carleton University have found that people who smoke moderate amounts of marijuana, even over a number of years, do not experience decreases in IQ.
And while the IQ of current heavy smokers (more than five joints a week) dips slightly, those losses do not seem to last over time. Former pot smokers, no matter their intake, show no long-term decreases in intelligence quotient.

"Marijuana does not have a long-term negative impact on global intelligence," said Peter Fried, a professor of psychology at Carleton University in Ottawa.

He cautioned, however, that more research is required to determine whether smoking pot affects specific intelligence functions such as short-term memory and attention span.

The study, published in today's edition of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, is one of the first to look at the long-term impacts of marijuana on young people who could be examined before and after they took up the habit.

Dr. Fried is director of the Ottawa Prenatal Prospective Study, which, since 1978, has followed a group of people from birth onward. Their IQs were tested at ages 9 to 12, and again at ages 17 to 20. For this aspect of the research, a group of 74 subjects were questioned about marijuana use, and urine tests were conducted to test for the presence of cannabinoids.

As preteens, the group had a mean IQ score of 113.8, and it rose to 116.4 as adults. Among light users of marijuana, scores rose almost six points in that period, while among heavy smokers, scores fell by four points. Among former users, IQ rose 3.5 points, regardless of previous levels of marijuana use.

In the study, more than one in five of the young people smoked heavily -- more than five joints weekly, with an average of 14 joints a week. But surprisingly, the former heavy users -- 37 joints weekly on average -- did not seem to suffer intelligence impairment.

The psychologist said the results of his research are preliminary.

Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Author: Andre Picard, Public Health Reporter
Published: Tuesday, April 2, 2002 – Print Edition, Page A7
Copyright: 2002 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact: letters@globeandmail.ca
Website: http://www.globeandmail.ca/

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[Mickey.T]

That was interesting, but these professors keep tellin us stuff we all ready know......Weed is good !!

Mickey.T