It's a misconception that smoking marijuana makes you stupid or, in\nother words, that marijuana causes your IQ to decline. While this\nmisconception has been around for a long time, studies from prestigious\ninstitutions such as Duke\nUniversity that\npoint out a correlation only serve to further scare off people who could\nbenefit from marijuana. The reality is that reputable studies show\nlittle likelihood of a connection between smoking marijuana and a\ndecreased IQ, although they indicate other possible links to IQ\ndeclines.
\nRecent Studies
\nFlaws in the Duke University study quickly came to light. For example,\nthe study's findings were too preliminary to indicate a general truth,\nas only 38 of the 1,037 study participants used marijuana to the point\nthat they were diagnosed as addicted. The study also did not account for\nother possible\nconnections\nto IQ declines such as trauma, abuse, and healthy or unhealthy family\nrelationships. In fact, a follow-up\nstudy in 2012 pointed\nout that the Duke University study made no attempt whatsoever to look at\nthe implications of factors such as socioeconomic status, alcohol use\nand mental issues on IQ decline.
\nTwo studies published in January 2016 indicate that there's no\nconnection between IQ and smoking marijuana. One study examined 2,235\nBritish children, aged 8 to\n16, while the other study\ncompared pairs of teenage American identical twins. One twin in each\npair smoked marijuana, while the other did not.
\nThe twins study, which is actually a combination of two twins\nstudies, showed that\nthere was no noticeably different cognitive level between one twin and\nthe other. This held true no matter how heavy a cannabis smoker one twin\nwas. In order to qualify as a marijuana user, a twin had to have used\nmarijuana at least 30 times to date or every day for more than six\nmonths. Both types of siblings, smokers and nonsmokers, lost an average\nof four IQ points during the study. These results are powerful because\nthe DNA and similar upbringings of twins are a control for factors such\nas socioeconomic status. Interestingly, the study points toward the\nconclusion that middle-school children who are intellectually\nunder-challenged may be more likely to seek out marijuana. However, it's\nimportant to keep in mind that the twins self-reported their marijuana\nuse and IQ scores.
\nThe study of British children controlled for extraneous factors and\nshowed that marijuana use prior to age 15 had no predictive effect on IQ\nor educational performance. In this study, about 25 percent of the\nchildren said they had tried marijuana at least one time, and almost 3.5\npercent had used it 50 times or more. Those who used marijuana heavily\ndemonstrated lower IQ scores and poorer educational performance, but\nafter researchers controlled for other variables, the marijuana\nassociation went away.
\nPositive Effects of Marijuana
\nThese study results are good news because marijuana has proven to be\nextremely helpful. For instance, it helps people better cope with pain\nranging from chronic pain to menstrual\ncramps.\nIt also helps control blood sugar and weight gain, and sparks creativity\nin many people. It helps with anxiety and\nstress\nand even with PTSD. In cancer patients, marijuana not only alleviates\npain, it increases\nappetite\nand combats\nnausea.
\nNegative Effects of Marijuana
\nAs with any substance, marijuana does come with some negative effects.\nPeople who smoke it may have respiratory issues such as wheezing and\nchronic bronchitis. Marijuana smoke may also damage the lungs, and for\nthe above two reasons, many people who use marijuana every day choose\nvaporizers or edibles.
\nPerception of Marijuana and IQ: Then vs. Now
\nIn the United States in the 1980s and 1990s, anti-drug ads pointed to\nso-called negative effects of marijuana: laziness, stupidity and lack of\ngood judgment. Whenever marijuana smokers were shown in movies, they\ncommonly took the form of incoherent stoners with endless appetites.\nPerceptions are now changing, as marijuana gains legal and social\nacceptance. For example, nearly 70 percent of Americans believe that\nalcohol is more\nharmful\nto a person than marijuana is, and more Americans support widespread\nlegalization than are against it. Medical\nmarijuana\nis legal in about half of U.S. states, and marijuana use is legal to a\ncertain non-medical extent in several states as well. And, of course,\nstudy after study shows that people need not worry about hurting their\nIQ if they smoke marijuana.
\nWhat Does Lead to IQ Decline?
\nSo, if marijuana doesn't lead to IQ decline, what does? One answer may\ncome in the form of a mix of factors, such as socioeconomic status,\nmental illness, alcohol, hard drugs and other influences touched on by\nmarijuana studies. For example, the British study indicated that teenage\nmarijuana users are more likely to have had problems in childhood and to\nbe cigarette and alcohol users.
\nRather than decrease IQ, marijuana use for many people helps them\nstretch their mental and physical muscles. For example, it makes them\nhappier and less anxious, putting them in a more creative mood. It\ndecreases their pain levels, enabling them to exercise when they\npreviously wouldn't have been able to. In turn, that exercise promotes\nblood circulation, and that's great news for a healthy brain and a\nhealthy body. So, from one perspective, marijuana actually boosts\nintelligence, albeit in an indirect way.
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