Teens in high school and often middle school are introduced to weed, whether it be by a family member or a school friend. This can build a temptation, and to some, an addiction. Most teens don’t care and are unphased by consequences of smoking. I did my research on the effects and found in an article by Helen Sheng at pnas.org that there isn’t much knowledge among scientists at all.

As you can imagine, most tests are run on poor little lab rats who are “exposed” to THC and placed in a maze. Their brains are studied and observations are translated to what could happen to a human brain. In this instance, studies determine that the maturing brain in teens is affected in the regions of the brain that control decision making and memory. There also seems to be a connection with schizophrenia. Foreign studies used military enlisters that had smoked before the age of 18 and after to show that the younger you start smoking weed, the more likely you will face schizophrenia.

There was the constant use of the words “risk” and “likely” which don’t hold very definitive connotations. I observed that every study mentioned revolved around the risk of teens 15-17 who smoked often were far more likely to be mentally distraught by their 30’s. I also read in an article on scientificamerican.com that spoke about the lack of success and happiness that could come from showing up to class after smoking.

The author, Claudia Wallis, specified that the classroom interactions will be misinterpreted or missed by the brain in such a time of building and change, which overall leads to the sadness in adult life. In the end, avoid weed and focus on school, sports, a car, anything, to avoid the risks we can’t even properly identify yet.