A recent study published in the Journal of the American Association has found that the number of teenagers who engage in marijuana vaporizing has doubled in the past couple of years. Such evidence claims that infused oil has become the most preferred method of use given that its much more potent composition provides a stronger high than the one provided from the traditional joint.
Now this study has built up several concerns because, as it has always been claimed, early cannabis use is thought to have several negative effects on the brain of people under 25 years old, given that it is considered that the brain continues to develop until that age.
The statistics that were taken as reference for the study found that ‘lifetime’ cannabis use had risen from 6.1% between 2013 and 2016, to 13.6% in 2019 to 2020. However, such statistics always seem to fail to consider the contextual changes concerning marijuana throughout the years.
Taking into account that marijuana has been achieving an overall bigger acceptance across the world, being legalized in several different countries, and even aside from this, turning into a topic people are embracing and talking about more, in social gatherings, TV and movies, then perhaps the rise in these numbers doesn’t necessarily signify an increase in the use of cannabis but rather a feeling of safety in speaking out loud and getting rid of the fear of what others would have said back in the day when acknowledging oneself as a stoner.
At the same time, it’s also important to consider that perspectives and points of view can really affect the way in which a research is directed to and the seeked conclusions. Of course, if a pro-weed researcher is set to making discoveries about cannabis, then most likely, they’ll find positive outcomes, and the same vice versa.
So, if the objective conclusion is that more cannabis users are turning to vaping instead of smoking, there could be two different ways of seeing this. One, more people are turning to a healthier way of using marijuana, which is definitely a reason to celebrate, given there are infinite studies that prove that vaping can dodge several of the health risks that smoking provides, regardless of the substance smoked, whether it’s tobacco or marijuana. But those who aren’t so happy about people consuming cannabis will turn the table and find a way to turn this into bad news, holding onto the fact that weed is thought to have cognitive impairment effects on users, even more in those who are under the age of 25. However, a recent study has even come to dust off this old misconception.
Not too long ago a group of investigators was set to analyze a huge group of teenagers, more than 800, between the ages of 14 to 19 who first tried cannabis at 15 years old. To everyone’s surprise, the studies concluded that there was no evidence to support the presumption that marijuana use leads to a decline in neurocognitive ability.
So, what can we actually make out of this? Turns out, news and information fly in the days of such an interconnected world, and when it comes to making opinions it should be ideal to dig in further before jumping to any conclusions. If we only narrowed our perspectives to one source of information we could be making up our minds with completely inaccurate arguments without even realizing it. Marijuana is in a constant battle against old stigmas, and it’s about time people understand that the products that come from weed seeds can provide way more benefits than harms, it’s just all about who we decide to trust as our sources of information.
