Dr Lloyd Johnson of the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, has been studying drug use by adolescents for over three decades. In a new report, he finds that use of marijuana by teenagers has increased in the last study period. Dr Inaba comments on the findings and some of the implications in this weeks podcast.
Transcript (edited):
CNS: Hi and welcome once again to the CNS pod cast, Im Howard LaMere here with Dr. Darryl Inaba and Darryl whats in the news this week?
Darryl: Well, Dr Lloyd Johnston from the University of Michigan has just released the latest study on drug abuse among US high school students. Hes been doing this study for well over forty years and he calls it Predicting the Future. Its probably one of the best indicators of where things are going with drugs and youth in this country and it foretells the future of adult use. Although some criticize his study, hes a lifetime researcher performing the same study using the same methodology. He gathers reports from massive numbers of high school age youth through out the country so his study has become a reliable source of where things stand as to youth and drugs. The study released in December (2009) shows a sudden change in young peoples perception of the risk involved in smoking marijuana. Anytime theres a perception that a substance or drug is riskier by that population theres a decrease in its abuse patterns or use. If there is a decrease in perceived risk of use, there is a natural increase in abuse. Were seeing a change in perception now created by a growing trend of legalized pot in the form of medical marijuana. Young people are naturally going to perceive it as less dangerous if it is being distributed as medicine. But obviously that is misleading.
CNS: Right. Law enforcement at every level is looking very closely at this issue because the numbers dont match up. There are significantly more people with marijuana cards and growing certificates than there are people with diagnosed conditions.
Darryl: And the sales outlets are mushrooming. There are people are growing more of it – much more than they can smoke in a year so theyre growing it for other populations. Another scary trend is the number of doctors prescribing medical marijuana to teen-agers for a variety of conditions including attention deficient disorder and autism where it seems to have a positive affect. There are reports that marijuana does help some kids with autism to control head banging and similar behaviors. We need medical marijuana but it should be administered in ways other than rolled up in a joint and smoked.
CNS: We need a different delivery mechanism.
Darryl: We need delivery mechanisms that dont harm the lungs. We need to aim towards administering medicine in its purest, least dangerous form.
CNS: I was reading something recently about the dopamine system in adolescents not being well developed and that is part of the reason cigarettes are so compelling and so easily addictive in teens. That is problematic with prescribing marijuana.
Darryl: Its also problematic for a future addiction and one of the main reasons why the greatest predictor of future problems with drugs and alcohol is age of first use. We find that anything that brings about an imbalance of dopamine in the system seems to affect the connective tissue. This network of fibers connects the pre-frontal cortex to the mesocortex or the limbic system. This is the go area or the compulsive area in the brain. The connective tissue that allows those two areas to communicate is called the Fascicules Retroflexus. An imbalance of dopamine especially at an early age erodes those fibers. The first cigarette you smoke creates enough of an imbalance in dopamine to begin killing the connective tissue between your brains control center and its compulsive center. The more you smoke, the more those communication fibers are destroyed causing the stop or go switch to malfunction. Continued use causes a person to lose the ability to control their use of a substance that activates the go area of the brain because the brain gets stuck on go there is no shut off, no stop no awareness of the consequences of the inability to engage the stop switch. This is an indicator of the potential for future addiction. The younger a person uses substances that activate dopamine in those areas the more likely theyre going to have problems if prescribed marijuana.
CNS: So its not just that particular drug but, but any addiction or any compulsive behavior.
Darryl: Absolutely. If youre going to affect that area in the brain in a negative way youre setting yourself up not only for drug problems but also for other behavioral disorders, gambling, internet sex, shopping, and things like that.
CNS: One of the positive things to come out of that study seems to be the correlation between the increased use of marijuana or increased perception of it, and the decrease in smoking tobacco and alcohol use.
Darryl: Yes, but I dont know if you can actually correlate the two. While there is a decreased perception of marijuana as a problem or risky substance which as we mentioned leads to an increase in use, there is an increased perception that methamphetamine, nicotine, and alcohol are much more risky. However, if we look at prescription drugs like Vicodin, Oxycontin, Adderol, we see an increase in the abuse of those drugs. This might support the assumption that if we promote something for medical use, as we do with prescription drugs and medical marijuana there will be a decreased perception that there is any consequential risk.
CNS: We spoke before about teens and young adult taking things out of their medicine cabinet, or those of their parents, and mixing them together in a big bowl at a party – thats pretty scary.
Darryl: Kids have pharming parties where they bring all these drugs and they just share them with out any thought to what theyre used for or how theyre used, just to see what the buzz is going to be.
CNS: Considering the fact that a lot of those medicines are extremely potent and have profound effects on the body, it is a dangerous way to get a buzz.
Darryl: One thing medical marijuana people are going to have to come to terms with is the fact that medical marijuana is not going to be weaker than street marijuana its probably going to be stronger because it will be purified. Medical marijuana gives us hope that theres going to be a more rational approach to medicine but it also means that it will be more potent than street pot.
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