In a strong blow against the long-standing myth that “pot makes you stupid”, a study from Duke university destroyed that long-held stereotypical perception after a real, unbiased testing was done to discover the eventual results.
Duke University is responsible for this game-changer. Researchers headed the best possible scenario in this study: analyzing the cognitive ability, habits, successes and failures of identical twins. Twins give this study its advantage because they come from the same background, upbringing and their body chemistry is the same. The factors weed out much of the uncertainty in comparison to tests done on people with very different genetic make-ups and backgrounds.
According to the study, “The data collected from the identical twins fails to support the implication that marijuana exposure in adolescence causes neurocognitive decline.”
The data gathered from the twin study suggests that teenagers who experience “intellectual stagnation” are the ones who are most likely to develop heavy cannabis use habits later in life. This is mainly due to the boredom factor, where students with high IQ scores end up doing worse because they lack interest in school studies that are geared to their peers with lower Iqs, depriving them of essential intellectual challenge and cognitive stimulation. According to the study, these types of teens are “predisposed to intellectual stagnation in middle school and are on a trajectory for future marijuana use.”
Put differently, teenagers on the lowest and highest ends of the IQ spectrum are almost equally as likely to develop habitual cannabis use in their younger years. The teenagers on the low end of the IQ spectrum develop marijuana dependence due to a lack in brain development, while high IQ spectrum teens get there typically through boredom.
Naturally, the scientific conclusion of this study does not mean that anyone can consume as much cannabis as they want with zero side effects. Despite its various medicinal uses, treatment and applications – cannabis is still a drug on he federal level.
