Teens Who Use Marijuana are More Likely to Experience Psychotic Symptoms' Research Says

Society's drug problem has grown rampant over the past couple of years and has now become even more troubling due to the fact that now even adolescents are getting involved with drug use. Not only is this highly illegal in most territories, it also poses a serious health risk. The early use of illegal drugs can give their adverse effects more time to develop, making the symptoms even more fatal.

In a recent article posted on Medscape, it has been revealed that adolescent boys who frequent the use of marijuana or cannabis are at an increased risk experiencing symptoms, which are reminiscent of psychosis. These symptoms are subclinical and persistent, and are still regularly experienced even if the use of the drug has been stopped for a considerable amount of time. The study surrounding this report aims to show young adults that marijuana actually presents a set of viable dangers and is more than "just pot."

"Perhaps the most concerning finding is that the effect of prior weekly marijuana use persists even after adolescents have stopped using for 1 year," says lead investigator Dr. Jordan Bechtold of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Because of his team's findings, he is now advocating restrictions regarding the use of marijuana especially considering its growing legalization. More so, he believes that these preventive policies should be targeted towards adolescents as their drug use can lead to the aforementioned psychotic symptoms.

According to the results of the study, teenagers who use marijuana on a weekly basis experienced an increased risk of subclinical psychotic symptoms by as much as 21%. The risk for paranoia only increased by 133% and the risk for hallucinations increased by a whopping 92% as well. These figures may rise if the use of the drug is more frequent than a per week basis.