My friend, who has a license to grow medical marijuana in WA, now says that she opposes full legalization. She now admits that regular marijuana use among teenagers causes permanent damage to cognitive thinking abilities. She knows that it is true because she has seen the results in her own family.
What she cannot see is that daily marijuana use causes the same damage to adult brains. It just isn’t permanent. The adult brain seems to be able to heal itself with 6 -8 weeks of abstention.
The effects of the marijuana use have made this person extremely unreasonable and argumentative. It is destroying her marriage and driving away her friends. She just blames everyone else. It is like her brain has just lost the filter that kept her from saying whatever popped into her mind.
Do you imagine that any kid anywhere in the country can’t get pot? The laws just aren’t effective in keeping it out of kids hands.
I think I can safely say through first-hand experience, that marijuana use during teenage years has a detrimental effect on cognition, as well as ambition. This is certainly true in the shorter-term; longer-term use may not cause permanent damage, but it certainly creates a sub-culture of numb drones, unable to function in society.
Of course, shareholders in Yum! Brands such as Frito Lay, and other "munchie" snacks should be very happy with the sales results.