Birmingham, United Kingdom: No strong evidence exists indicating that the use of cannabis in itself has negative consequences on the psychological or social health of adolescents, according to a systemic review of general population longitudinal studies published this week in the journal The Lancet.
Researchers at the University of Birmingham’s Departments of Primary Care and General Practice conducted a systemic review of 48 studies reporting associations between illicit drug use by young people and psychosocial harm. After reviewing the studies for “unmeasured as well as measured potential confounders,” authors concluded, “Available evidence does not strongly support an important causal relation between cannabis use by young people and psychosocial harm.”
Researchers added, “This finding is not equivalent to the conclusion that the use of cannabis is harmless in psychosocial terms; problems with the available evidence render it equally unable to support this proposition. Better evidence is needed in relation to cannabis, which is widely used, and in relation to other drugs that, although less widely used, may have important effects.”
NORML Foundation Executive Director Allen St. Pierre praised the review. “Marijuana is not a harmless substance; no drug is. However, marijuana’s relative risks to the user – most of which may be mitigated by consuming cannabis in ways other than smoking – does not support criminal prohibition or the continued arrest of approximately 700,000 Americans on marijuana charges every year.”
The study’s authors surmised that their findings would likely have little impact on federal drug policy, stating: “Drug policy is sometimes justified on the basis of a causal relation between drug use and psychosocial harm. We have shown that evidence for this relation is not strong. However, it would be naive to assume that scientific evidence is generally an important determinant of policy, particularly in this area.”
An accompanying commentary in The Lancet reiterated that allegations of cannabis’ potentially detrimental effects are “less certain than often claimed,” and argued that decriminalizing its possession and use “is a sensible attempt to balance the possible harms caused by cannabis and its prohibition.”
For more information, please contact either Allen St. Pierre or Paul Armentano of the NORML Foundation at (202) 483-5500. Abstracts of the study are available online at:
http://www.thelancet.com