A new study has found that cannabis has an even greater effect on children’s IQ levels than once thought. It was found that regular use destroys brain power and lowers IQ. The drug is already known to slow reaction times, block memory and cause panic attacks, drowsiness, confusion and hallucinations. But smoking cannabis five times a week can also have a measurable effect on intelligence.
Canadian researchers have assessed how IQ changes after smoking cannabis. The eight-year study at Carleton University, Ottawa, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, involved 70 children. They were first tested between nine and 12 years old and again at 17 to 20. The IQs of those who smoked more than five joints a week dropped by an average of four points.
Such an effect could dramatically increase the number of people considered to have low intelligence, if they all smoked cannabis.
Study author Dr Peter Fried said that, individually, a four point fall might not be very noticeable.
‘But in the general population it is estimated that around 6.5 per cent of people have an IQ of 77 or less, and such a drop as a whole would bring that number up to around 11 per cent.’
But there were signs that young people who had smoked cannabis for up to three years could regain their IQs if they gave up.
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