Learn how smoking pot can affect your whole future, especially when it comes to your IQ.
Looking forward to getting into a good college? Think twice before you smoke weed. Marijuana doesn’t just have side effects when you smoke it. It can actually affect your brain permanently. This is your IQ on dope.
What’s an IQ?
It’s not a number your employers are likely to ask for, but it is a good indicator of your intelligence and your ability to problem solve in the real world. A significant drop in your IQ would be an indicator of genuine loss of intelligence.
How much does your IQ drop?
A large-scale study conducted in New Zealand recently showed that people who used marijuana heavily in their teens and continued as adults had a significant drop in IQ between the ages of 13 and 38. What’s a significant drop? Participants who met the criteria for cannabis dependence lost an average of 8 points.
What about long-term affects?
A study published in Brain magazine also showed long term effects of marijuana on the brain. In fact, friends and family members of the participants were given questionnaires. These people noticed changes in the behavior of the participants after long term marijuana use. Users were forgetful, misplaced things, and showed other signs of loss of cognitive function.
As you focus on your schoolwork and think about your future, remember that smoking pot can literally affect your ability to succeed in college and your career. It can have lasting, long-term changes on your brain’s function and your IQ.
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