UCSD study notes pot’s impact on kids
A new UC San Diego study strengthens the growing body of evidence that marijuana use impacts adolescent brain development.
Researchers observed slower gains in cognitive tests that measured memory, focus and thinking speed among middle and high school-age kids who used cannabis when compared to those who abstained.
Scheduled for publication online today in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, the study analyzes how 11,000 kids across the nation enrolled in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, a $440 million effort that the National Institutes of Health calls “the largest long-term study of brain development and child health ever conducted in the United States.”
Annual testing started in 2016 when participants were 9 or 10 years old, finishing its initial decade-long collection period at 21 sites nationwide this fall. UCSD is the program’s nationwide coordinator and one of its most active hubs, with 740 local enrollees.
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