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Then the students were given tests on “their memory, visual reasoning skills and inhibition levels.” Adolescent alcohol usage did not create the same cognitive problems that cannabis did. Researchers also found in a follow-up interview that those cognitive problems also presented themselves later in the adolescents’ lives.

“The work highlights some of the cognitive problems young people experience at a point in their life when they need optimal memory, problem-solving and concentration to ensure they maximize their educational potential, cannabis appears to impair their cognitive ability,” Ian Hamilton, a University of York professor not involved with the research, told Newsweek.

But Hamilton also mentioned the possible limitations of the study.

“We also don’t know how many young people just happened to use cannabis at the time the researchers assessed them, equally there could be young people who weren’t using cannabis at the point of assessment but did use cannabis at other times between assessments, we just don’t know.”

As legalization movements march onward, it’s important to keep this type of research in mind as well. Cannabis affects everyone differently. Until we know more, it’s best to discourage chronic or frequent teen substance use.

TheFreshToast.com, a U.S. lifestyle site, that contributes lifestyle content and, with their partnership with 600,000 physicians via Skipta, medical marijuana information to The GrowthOp.

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