| Going over the background of who did the study, the abstract, and their assertions, it appears they've made the classic mistake of correlation = causation. Nothing in their study supports their assertion of a casual link. Based on their alarmist and projective tone, they probably made this error on purpose in order to push an agenda for their own benefit. The fact that Rupert Murdoch's disreputable name is attached is only 1 of numerous red flags. Disappointing. Title of Article: Long-term study reveals harm in regular cannabis use Original Paper: Young-adult compared to adolescent onset of regular cannabis use: A 20-year prospective cohort study of later consequences Lead Author Dr Gary Chan, excerpt from Bio: "Dr. Gary Chan is a NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow at the National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research. His principal research interest lies in the field of substance misuse prevention and the application of cutting-edge statistical method for longitudinal analysis and causal inference." Methods: "A state-representative sample in Victoria, Australia (n = 1792) participated in a 10-wave longitudinal study and was followed from age 15 to 35 years. Exposure variable: Patterns of cannabis use across 20-years. Outcomes at age 35: Alcohol use, smoking, illicit drug use, relationship status, financial hardship, depression, anxiety and employment status." Results: "Substantially more participants (13.6%) initiated regular use after high school (young-adult onset) than in adolescence (7.7%, adolescent onset). By the mid-30s, both young-adult and adolescent-onset regular users were more likely than minimal/non-users (63.5%) to have used other illicit drugs (odds ratio [OR] > 20.4), be a high-risk alcohol drinker (OR > 3.7), smoked daily (OR > 7.2) and less likely to be in relationships (OR < 0.4). As the prevalence of the young-adult-onset group was nearly double of the adolescent-onset group, it accounted for a higher proportion of adverse consequences than the adolescent-onset group" Dr Chan says: "Overall, regular use of cannabis – more than weekly and especially daily use – was found to have harmful consequences, regardless of the age people began using it." "The study was conducted in collaboration with Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the University of Melbourne." |