Why your adolescent should not smoke marijuana

Dr. Phil Kronk
USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee

One in three Americans have tried marijuana. As Chris Rock likes to say in his stand-up comedy routine, “There…I said it!”

Philip Kronk, M.S., Ph.D., is a semi-retired child and adult clinical psychologist and clinical neuropsychologist with a post-doctoral degree in clinical psychopharmacology.

Those of you who are baby-boomers would be surprised by how much more potent today’s marijuana is compared to when you were at Woodstock.

(I have probably met 60 million people who said they were at Woodstock, compared to the 400,000 actually filmed in documentaries. The only similar comparison is the large crowds at President Trump’s inauguration.)

Of all the illegal substances used in this country, marijuana stands alone at the top.

Because of medical and recreational marijuana use, the business market for both hit $6.7 billion in 2016, up 34 percent from the year before. In Colorado, where recreational marijuana is legal for those 21 years and older, $12.6 million in taxes was raised in only the first three months.

Economics will be an important factor influencing the legalization of marijuana in other states.

Don’t think that only young people smoke marijuana. A recent study on drug use found a 60 percent increase in marijuana smoking for those adults 50 to 64 years old. Senior citizens, 65 years and older, have increased their rate of smoking marijuana by 250 percent, during the period 2006 to 2013.

A recent May, 2017 issue of The Carlat Report: Child Psychiatry was devoted to marijuana, particularly, adolescent use.

One article in that publication noted that in the past the concentration of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) was much lower in marijuana. THC is the ingredient that gets you high. Today’s inhaled preparations range from 4 percent to 20 percent. However, concentrated forms of marijuana can reach a THC concentration of 50 to 80 percent.

Another concentrate form of marijuana, butane hash oil (BHO) can have a THC concentration ranging from 60 to 90 percent. (Compare that to the lower 4 percent range of smoked flower or buds.) Does anyone really need to be impaired and smoking around a flammable substance, such as butane?

Other ways to take in marijuana include the use of CO2 oil, and edible forms that are ingested. Oral administration of marijuana has a delayed onset, so that one may continue to eat more, impatient for the high to appear. However, when ingested, marijuana produces “a less intense but much longer effect,” with some effects lasting as long as 24 hours. Often, an individual simply cannot tell the emergency room staff how much he ate.

Another article in The Carlat Report: Child Psychiatry addressed the important issue of adolescent use of marijuana. It quotes the well-known, 2012 New Zealand medical research study. That study showed an 8 percent decrease in IQ points for those adolescents who began smoking marijuana by the age of thirteen. In contrast, those individuals, who started smoking continuously from age eighteen on, did not exhibit a decline in IQ points.

Other studies showed that an adolescent who stops smoking, can still have problems with executive functioning brain-based skills (for planning, organizing and effective self-feedback) almost a month after quitting.

Another study showed that those who smoke marijuana during adolescence earn one-third less by age 30.

Often negative effects of marijuana on an adolescent include an impact on normal emotional development; a decrease in the ability to benefit from negative reinforcement, (a source of learning about life’s demands); and “a problem with processing affective cues.”

Marijuana use can negatively impact the developing adolescent’s brain, leading to problems with motivation, learning and remembering information.

My personal position on marijuana use by adults is for legalization to be determined by the voters of each state, (since more conservative areas of the country are uncomfortable with legalization.)

I am personally against legalization, but I would like to see decriminalization of small amounts for personal use. I also do not believe that the literature effectively supports that marijuana is a “gateway” drug that leads to more powerful drugs of abuse. Those who use marijuana are not bad, evil or mentally ill individuals, just because they smoke marijuana.

Marijuana, if legalized, should be prohibited for all adolescents and adults under the age of 21. It should never be used by anyone, when they are teaching or working with children and adolescents.

Philip Kronk, M.S., Ph.D. is a semi-retired child and adult Clinical Psychologist and child and adult Clinical Neuropsychologist. Dr. Kronk has a doctorate in Clinical Psychology and a post-doctorate degree in Clinical Psychopharmacology (the use of drugs to treat mental disorders.) His year-long internship in Clinical Psychology was served at the University of Colorado Medical School. Dr. Kronk writes a weekly, Friday online column for the Knoxville News Sentinel’s website, knoxnews.com. He can be reached at (865) 330-3633.