Join Early Retirement Today
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Don't smoke pot until adulthood!
Old 08-27-2012, 08:46 PM   #1
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
NW-Bound's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 35,712
Don't smoke pot until adulthood!

I was a bit reluctant to post this, because for the retirees already in geezerdom or even aspiring early retirees, it is too late already.

I ran across this article that measured effects of marijuana on smokers under the age of 18. Early smokers lost 8 points on IQ later in life, as measured a couple of decades later in adulthood, compared to their own earlier IQ tests before they smoked.

The article said,
Tests for intelligence quotient, or IQ, measure a person’s capacity to learn, apply knowledge, and use abstract reasoning. The average score is 100.
Although a drop of eight points may not seem like much, going from a score of 100 to 92 drops someone from being in the 50th percentile in intelligence to the 29th.

For people who smoked pot later in life, they measure no decrease in IQ. People who never smoked pick up a slight IQ increase.

Details are here.
__________________
"Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man" -- Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)

"Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities" - Voltaire (1694-1778)
NW-Bound is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 08-27-2012, 09:19 PM   #2
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
73ss454's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: LaLa Land
Posts: 4,698
Quote:
Originally Posted by NW-Bound View Post
People who never smoked pick up a slight IQ increase.
I was wondering why I feel so smart.
__________________
Work is something you do to get enough $ so you don't have to....Me.
73ss454 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-27-2012, 09:25 PM   #3
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
NW-Bound's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 35,712
Heh heh heh... Same here.

However, my elation may not last, if someone publishes a similar article regarding nicotine in cigarette smoke.
__________________
"Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man" -- Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)

"Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities" - Voltaire (1694-1778)
NW-Bound is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-27-2012, 09:36 PM   #4
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
73ss454's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: LaLa Land
Posts: 4,698
I never did that either, I'm just a bore I guess. Just could never figure out why someone would set something on fire and suck it into their lungs.
__________________
Work is something you do to get enough $ so you don't have to....Me.
73ss454 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-27-2012, 09:41 PM   #5
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Hong Kong
Posts: 1,688
Does that mean it's okay to freely smoke the stuff once you become an adult?
__________________
Budgeting is a skill practised by people who are bad at politics.
traineeinvestor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-27-2012, 09:45 PM   #6
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
NW-Bound's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 35,712
Seems like it does not hurt IQ, if you start as an adult.

Of course it may hurt something else that the study did not address. Or it could help, like many have claimed. I dunno. They need to do more studies, I guess. Need more smokers for these studies too. Probably would not have problems getting volunteers.
__________________
"Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man" -- Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)

"Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities" - Voltaire (1694-1778)
NW-Bound is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2012, 07:21 AM   #7
Administrator
MichaelB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Chicagoland
Posts: 40,586
The NYT reported on this, but their take was a bit different, so I looked for the source to see why. Surprisingly, the write-up linked in the OP presents the conclusions with a perspective the study authors did not intend. The abstract can be seen here Recent Press Highlights I would say this is the key paragraph
Quote:
The researchers found that study members who reported persistent cannabis use showed a greater decline in IQ compared with other participants. Persistent cannabis use was associated with broad impairment across five domains of neuropsychological functioning, and remained significant even after controlling for years of education and use of other drugs including alcohol. Persistent cannabis use appeared to affect everyday cognitive functioning, with persistent users exhibiting significantly more attention and memory problems than other participants, according to sources who the study members claimed "knew them well." Adolescent-onset cannabis users tended to become more persistent users and experienced a greater IQ decline compared with adult-onset users, after equating for levels of persistence
The decline in neurological function is the result of continued heavy use over decades. People are more likely to be persistent users when they begin at a younger age, but the driver here is not age, it is the long term chronic use.

The opening line from the originally linked article is this
Quote:
Teens may lose IQ points later in life if they smoke marijuana before age 18, according to a study that follows a survey showing use of the drug has increased in this age group for four straight years.
and this is not a conclusion of the study. This makes for good headlines but poor journalism.
MichaelB is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2012, 11:41 AM   #8
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
ziggy29's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: North Oregon Coast
Posts: 16,483
But if you wait until you're an adult, will you be smart enough to avoid eating an entire bag of Doritos in one sitting, or to avoid getting into a car for a 1 AM Taco Bell run?
__________________
"Hey, for every ten dollars, that's another hour that I have to be in the work place. That's an hour of my life. And my life is a very finite thing. I have only 'x' number of hours left before I'm dead. So how do I want to use these hours of my life? Do I want to use them just spending it on more crap and more stuff, or do I want to start getting a handle on it and using my life more intelligently?" -- Joe Dominguez (1938 - 1997)
ziggy29 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2012, 11:56 AM   #9
Full time employment: Posting here.
antmary's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Northern California
Posts: 549
Quote:
Originally Posted by ziggy29 View Post
But if you wait until you're an adult, will you be smart enough to avoid eating an entire bag of Doritos in one sitting, or to avoid getting into a car for a 1 AM Taco Bell run?
Or find your way to Baskin & Robbins and try to order a Spumoni ice cone while trying to act serious
antmary is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2012, 12:23 PM   #10
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
NYEXPAT's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Miraflores,Peru
Posts: 1,992
Hopefully, future studies will show that quickly moving on to "714's" and "4 way orange barrel's" will have negated any loss of IQ. I think it is like cheating on your girlfriend in that respect, If you do a three way the two girls cancel each other out.
NYEXPAT is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2012, 07:05 PM   #11
Recycles dryer sheets
Life_is_Good's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 236
OK…. I'll 'fess up. I started using cannabis a few years before age 18. If it made me a few IQ points lighter ….

--- I continued to be an excellent student through high school.

--- I earned my Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from a prominent California University while working full time and starting a family.

--- Somehow, I had enough IQ points to advance into a higher paying management job and stash away enough $$$ to ER at the age of 44.

--- I studied personal finance so that I do my own investing and prepare my own taxes.

By the tone of my response you may be able to determine that I don't necessarily believe the hype of this article. And speaking of hype….. I wonder if it's any coincidence that this article is released just before the elections. In several western states, full legalization will appear on November's ballot. Could this be another piece of government propaganda to negatively influence the voters? I wonder. Or... maybe It's the cannabis making me just a little paranoid - lol. I don't think early cannabis use reduced my IQ level at all…. or maybe I'm just too stupid to realize it.
Life_is_Good is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2012, 07:42 PM   #12
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Hong Kong
Posts: 1,688
Quote:
Originally Posted by Life_is_Good View Post
--- Somehow, I had enough IQ points to advance into a higher paying management job and stash away enough $$$ to ER at the age of 44.
But could you have ERd sooner without it?

This calls for a taxpayer funded multi-decade study on the correlation between smoking pot as a teenager and retirement age. I'm sure there will be no shortage of volunteers willing to participate.
__________________
Budgeting is a skill practised by people who are bad at politics.
traineeinvestor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-29-2012, 12:05 AM   #13
Moderator Emeritus
Nords's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Oahu
Posts: 26,856
Quote:
Originally Posted by 73ss454 View Post
I never did that either, I'm just a bore I guess. Just could never figure out why someone would set something on fire and suck it into their lungs.
... when brownies taste so much better.

Quote:
Originally Posted by MichaelB View Post
The decline in neurological function is the result of continued heavy use over decades. People are more likely to be persistent users when they begin at a younger age, but the driver here is not age, it is the long term chronic use.
IIRC, the noted research team of Drs. Cheech & Chong assembled several LP record albums full of similar findings...
__________________
*

Co-author (with my daughter) of “Raising Your Money-Savvy Family For Next Generation Financial Independence.”
Author of the book written on E-R.org: "The Military Guide to Financial Independence and Retirement."

I don't spend much time here— please send a PM.
Nords is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-29-2012, 05:20 AM   #14
Administrator
MichaelB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Chicagoland
Posts: 40,586
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nords View Post
IIRC, the noted research team of Drs. Cheech & Chong assembled several LP record albums full of similar findings...
Along with a few movies. And then there's Jay, of Jay and Silent Bob fame. Like Chong, Jay was both a silver screen and real life example of the "chronic use" effect.
MichaelB is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-29-2012, 07:34 AM   #15
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Lawn chair in Texas
Posts: 14,183
Quote:
Originally Posted by NYEXPAT View Post
Hopefully, future studies will show that quickly moving on to "714's" and "4 way orange barrel's" will have negated any loss of IQ. I think it is like cheating on your girlfriend in that respect, If you do a three way the two girls cancel each other out.
__________________
Have Funds, Will Retire

...not doing anything of true substance...
HFWR is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-29-2012, 08:15 AM   #16
gone traveling
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Eastern PA
Posts: 3,851
I still remember the "info" that was shown on the military TV channel when I was having my "SEA vacation", back in '68-69.

It would show a squad of grunts out in the field having a "wacky weed break" and suddely put upon by Cong/NVA Regs (where their platoon was not "treated gently" ).

Sorry, but being a Nam vet (and an old phart, who did not participate in what most folks think of the 60's), I swore off the substance.

Different folks - different strokes (and different times)...
rescueme is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-29-2012, 08:27 AM   #17
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
grasshopper's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 2,464
Far out.
__________________
For me experiences are not good or bad, just different
grasshopper is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 08-29-2012, 08:40 AM   #18
Recycles dryer sheets
ducky911's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 497
cool. but what does lower mean?
__________________
You've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?
Retired July '11 investments in very low cost index and mutual funds, balance once a year at best.
ducky911 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-29-2012, 08:58 AM   #19
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Lawn chair in Texas
Posts: 14,183
Quote:
Originally Posted by rescueme View Post
I still remember the "info" that was shown on the military TV channel when I was having my "SEA vacation", back in '68-69.

It would show a squad of grunts out in the field having a "wacky weed break" and suddely put upon by Cong/NVA Regs (where their platoon was not "treated gently" ).

Sorry, but being a Nam vet (and an old phart, who did not participate in what most folks think of the 60's), I swore off the substance.

Different folks - different strokes (and different times)...
Not sure I'd want to be stoned if there was a chance I would be ambushed...
__________________
Have Funds, Will Retire

...not doing anything of true substance...
HFWR is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-29-2012, 09:23 AM   #20
gone traveling
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Eastern PA
Posts: 3,851
Quote:
Originally Posted by HFWR View Post
Not sure I'd want to be stoned if there was a chance I would be ambushed...
You understand the "message" - exactly ...

OTOH, I'm still alive (regardless if I get a disability check from the VA every month).

I guess TV free "Ad Spots" do work ...
rescueme is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
marijuana iq


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Quick Links

 
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 08:00 PM.
 
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.