Your teenage years and early 20’s are a critical period for brain development. In fact, the brain does reach complete maturity until about age 25.
This means that young adults are particularly susceptible to the negative consequences regular weed use may have on maximizing cognitive function and learning ability. If you’re a young adult who has been using marijuana frequently, it’s important to be aware of the risks, and the potential for permanent changes in brain function.
High levels of marijuana use in young adulthood are associated with poorer educational outcomes, lower income, higher levels of unemployment, lower relationship satisfaction, and lower overall satisfaction with life (Fergusson and Boden, Addiction, 2008).
However, these are simply associations, and don’t necessarily point to a causal connection between early marijuana use and any of these outcomes.
At the same time, there is more robust evidence to support that developing an early weed habit has long-lasting impacts on your brain function. Intensive neuropsychological testing shows that long-term use of marijuana can result in a significant decline in executive functioning, memory, learning, and cognitive processing speed.
Significant declines in IQ (intelligence quotients) have been reported in studies of marijuana-dependent adolescents who are followed over time (Meier, PNAS, 2012).
In contrast, no such declines are observed in those who started using marijuana as adults. Additionally, greater declines in IQ were found in people who began to use marijuana use at a young age compared to those who started using marijuana later in life (Pope, Drug Alcohol Depend, 2003).
Marijuana’s direct impact on brain structure and function are further supported by brain imaging studies (Jacobus, Curr Pharm Des, 2014). Certain brain regions important for memory and attention, like the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and cerebellum, have been shown to be the most heavily affected by regular marijuana use among heavy users of the drug.
These changes in brain activity were associated with higher average doses and earlier age of first use, supporting the notion of a “dose-dependent” relationship between marijuana use and long-term impacts on neural function.
About Weedless.org
Weedless.org is a free, web-based resource and community created by a team of healthcare professionals and researchers. We distill the facts about marijuana use and its effects into practical guidance for interested persons or for those who are thinking about or struggling to quit weed. Finding reliable, easy to understand information about marijuana should never be a struggle—that is why our core mission is to provide the most up to date information about marijuana use, abuse, addiction, and withdrawal. While we seek to empower individuals to have control over their use, we are not “anti-weed” and we support efforts to legalize adult marijuana use and study.