Study Says Alcohol in Teens Damages the Brain, But Marijuana Use Doesn’t

Snippet from the non-hair-loss article:

The researchers, from the University of California, San Diego and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, performed the study on 92 16- to 20-year-olds. The scientists scanned their brains both before and after an 18-month period. Over the course of the 18 months, half of the teens, who already had an extensive track record with alcohol and marijuana, continued their vices as they had before. The other half continued to abstain or drink a minimal amount, like they too had done before the study.

In addition to the brain scans, the study also required a detailed toxicology report and substance use assessment. The teens also were interviewed every six months. Researchers did not check the teens’ cognitive ability, but simply took brain scans.

The researchers found that, after the year and a half was over, kids who had drank five or more alcoholic beverages twice a week had lost white brain matter. That means that they could have impaired memory, attention, and decision-making into adulthood. The teens that smoked marijuana on a regular basis had no such reduction.

Read the rest — No, Teen Marijuana Use Doesn’t Cause Brain Damage, But Alcohol Does

I’m not advocating marijuana or alcohol, but I thought it was interesting research in light of the pot legalization in Washington state and Colorado. The study will be published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.