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Amy stopped using marijuana nine months before speaking to
Current Health, but she believes that the drug's haze hasn't fully lifted.
Amy says she
never stuttered before she started smoking at age 16. And her thinking isn't as sharp. “When I
read, I have to read the same thing five times to get what it's talking about,“ says Amy, now 18.
She also struggles some days with impulsiveness and the temptation to backslide into bad habits.
“When I was using,“ Amy says, “I never used think about any of the consequences.“
It's not surprising that marijuana can scramble the brain's
functioning. After all, the drug's effects on the mind are why people use it. But researchers
and addiction specialists are becoming more worried about how the drug may rewire the brain
long after a teen has snuffed out that last joint. Specifically, some studies have pointed to
problems with thinking and judgment, much like what Amy has experienced.
Today's teens are less likely to abuse cigarettes and alcohol,
but marijuana use appears to be holding steady, according to an annual University of Michigan
survey. The percentage of teens who said they used pot in the previous year ranged from nearly
11 percent among eighth graders to 32 percent among 12th graders. One possible reason: Fewer
teens now believe the drug poses a "great risk" than in recent years.
What starts as an occasional joint, though, can become habit-forming.
Marijuana prompts the brain to release a pleasure-producing chemical called dopamine, says
Robert Miranda Jr., a clinical psychologist and assistant professor at the Center for Alcohol
and Addiction Studies at Brown University. “If you use [the drug], it basically stimulates
the reward centers of the brain,“ he explains. Contact for complete article
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