Not recommended 4 Children | Marijuana use, research / recommendations

Children and MarijuanaMarijuana use is not recommended for the treatment of developmental or behavioral problems in children.

US policy is changing / heading down a path where it is becoming easier to ‘see’ marijuana as an alternative for medical treatments.  

The time to be educating, and supporting efforts of making good decisions has never been greater.  

Fact #1:  The number of studies that suggest a potential positive effect on adults are for very specific conditions, this is not a reason to believe that this will be suitable for children / young adults with developmental or behavioral disorders.  

FACT #2  There is significant evidence that regular marijuana use has negative effects on the developing brains of children and teenagers.The brain of children and young adults is much different then that of an adult.  Cannabis use at a young age has many negative long / short term effects.  Many believe that this is just hyperbole.  This is real information that can and will affect ones life (positively or negatively, depending on how you choose to react to educational material).
With new legislation (depending on location), patients and families are curious to see if medical marijuana could help their conditions, including developmental and behavioral problems in children, which prompted researchers to conduct their review.

  • The review reports that long-term, regular cannabis use by adolescents has been associated with increased risks of addiction, major depression, anxiety disorders, and psychotic thinking.

It has also been linked to a persistent decline in intelligence quotient.  Adolescents with developmental and behavioral disorders are at risk for early substance abuse, creating another risk factor.The researchers note that there is currently no data on the safety, efficacy, or tolerability for cannabis as a treatment for childhood developmental or behavioral disorders.


The researchers believe that future research should focus on cannabidiols rather than plant forms of medical marijuana, but much more research must be done before clinicians should consider prescribing cannabis to adolescents.


 
From the review in the February Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics:  As medical marijuana becomes increasingly accepted, there is growing interest in its use for children and adolescents with developmental and behavioral problems such as autism spectrum disorders and attention-deficit / hyper-activity disorder.
 
children and MarijuanaDespite a lack of studies showing any clinical benefit of cannabis for young patients with these disorders -- whereas evidence strongly suggests harmful effects of regular marijuana use in the developing brain.
 
Scott Hadland, MD, MPH, John R. Knight, MD, and Sion Kim Harris, PhD of Boston Children's Hospital write, "Given the current scarcity of data, cannabis cannot be safely recommended for the treatment of developmental or behavioral disorders at this time."

Bottom Line:  As with all progress that is driven towards positive outcomes, the steps necessary to achieve protocols that work for the betterment of society is paramount.  
Being a specialist is just that, we have to let the research become available so that we ‘do no harm’ to the ever hungry population that wants to find improved ways to overcome much of what ails us.  Leave risk up to the professionals, they have spent their whole lives training for moments like this to help us find good ways to improve our lives.

Leave a Comment