Teenagers who regularly smoke cannabis suffer long lasting brain damage and are in much greater danger of developing schizophrenia.

American researchers say the drug is particularly dangerous for a group of people who have a genetic susceptibility to the mental health disorder – and it could be the trigger for it.

However, when some people find themselves struggling with their mental health, genetic or not, and with the likes of stress and anxiety, cannabis could help to make all of the difference. Depending on what your doctor says, products similar to CBD oil has been known to relieve any symptoms that could be affecting your mental health. As long as you take it in the right dosage, as well as it being prescribed to you by a professional, the negative connotations surrounding cannabis won’t make a difference to you. But if you misuse it, the consequences could be fatal.

There are alternatives to smoking cannabis as a solution to stress. Vaping is a recent trend that has been especially popular with teenagers. Many people who use vape products find themselves less anxious without the harmful side-effects of cannabis or cigarettes. You could see the products available now at IndeJuice to see if they help.

Asaf Keller, of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, said the results highlight the dangers of teenagers smoking cannabis during their formative years. Continued smoking could be damaging when they start careers; few employers are likely to continue hiring an employee they know comes to work high or under the influence of various drugs leading to many businesses implementing something like a 7 panel drug test in order to reduce the risk of possible incidents caused by substance abusers.

The study, published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, exposed young mice to the active ingredient in marijuana for 20 days.

It found that their brain activity was impaired, with the damage continuing into adulthood.

The past 20 years has seen major controversy about the long-term effects of marijuana, with experts divided over its long-term effects on teenagers. Should there be any link to cannabis use and mental disorders in later life, it may be wise for the medical marijuana movement to only supply the likes of white label cbd products instead of offering THC dominant products to those that are wanting to use it recreationally and medicinally.

Previous research has shown that children who started using marijuana before the age of 16 are at greater risk of permanent brain damage, and have a significantly higher incidence of psychiatric disorders.

‘Adolescence is the critical period during which marijuana use can be damaging,’ said the study’s lead author, Sylvina Mullins Raver, a PhD candidate at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

‘We wanted to identify the biological underpinnings and determine whether there is a real, permanent health risk to marijuana use.’

The scientists began by examining cortical oscillations in mice. Cortical oscillations are patterns of the activity of neurons in the brain and are believed to underlie the brain’s various functions.

These oscillations are very abnormal in schizophrenia and in other psychiatric disorders.

The scientists exposed young mice to very low doses of the active ingredient in marijuana for 20 days, and then allowed them to return to their siblings and develop normally.

‘In the adult mice exposed to marijuana ingredients in adolescence, we found that cortical oscillations were grossly altered, and they exhibited impaired cognitive abilities,’ said Raver.

‘We also found impaired cognitive behavioural performance in those mice. The striking finding is that, even though the mice were exposed to very low drug doses, and only for a brief period during adolescence, their brain abnormalities persisted into adulthood.’

The scientists repeated the experiment, this time giving marijuana to adult mice that had never been exposed to the drug before.

Full article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2377581/Teenagers-smoke-cannabis-damage-brains-LIFE-likely-develop-schizophrenia.html