Smoking pot makes teen boys 4 inches shorter, on average

[ttt]

Don't smoke pot, kids!

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/11613107/Boys-who-smoke-cannabis-are-four-inches-shorter.html


Boys who smoke cannabis before puberty could be stunting their growth by more than four inches, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that youngsters who were addicted to the drug were far shorter than their non-smoking peers.

And they also discovered that rather than being a relaxing pass time, smoking dope actually makes the body more stressed in the long term.

"Marijuana use may provoke a stress response that stimulates onset of puberty but suppresses growth rate,” said study leader Dr Syed Shakeel Raza Rizvi, of the Agriculture University Rawalpindi in Pakistan.

Scientists at the Pir Mehr Ali Shah Agriculture University Rawalpindi in Pakistan studied the levels of certain hormones involved in growth and puberty in the blood of 220 non-smoking and 217 cannabis-addicted boys.

Levels of puberty-related hormones such as testosterone and luteinising hormone (LH) were increased in the cannabis smokers. In contrast, growth hormone levels in the group were decreased.

It was also found that non-smoking boys were on average four kilos heavier and 4.6 inches taller by the age of 20 than the dope smokers.

The researchers also looked at the effect of smoking cannabis on levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, in 10 cannabis addicts.

They found that dope smokers have significantly higher levels of cortisol than non-smokers.
 
Cannabis is the most widely available illicit drug in Europe, and it's estimated that it's been used by 80.5 million Europeans at least once in their life.

The proportion of 11-15 year olds in England who had used cannabis in the last year fell from 13.3 per cent in 2003 to 7 per cent in 2013, around 250,000 youngsters.

The latest report from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) reveals that the highest prevalence of cannabis use is among 15 to 24-year-olds and is significantly higher among men than women.

Previous studies have looked at the effect of smoking cannabis in adult rats and humans, but this is the first time that the effects have been looked at in prebubescent boys.

Dr Rivzi said the the research may have a wider impact than just health, adding: "Early puberty is associated with younger age of onset of drinking and smoking, and early matures have higher levels of substance abuse because they enter the risk period at an early level of emotional maturity."


The researchers say their findings, presented at the European Congress of Endocrinology in Dublin, will lead to a better understanding of the dangers of drug abuse on growth and development in children.

[LoveTrains]

Holy shit, what about girls?!

Does this explain why I am only 5'0"?!?!?!

[ttt]

May 25, 2015 13:06:42 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

Holy shit, what about girls?!

Does this explain why I am only 5'0"?!?!?!

I'd be interested to know about girls too, although I inagine it's less so for girls since girls usually go through puberty and stop growing earlier than boys so are less likely to be smoking pot during those growing years.

[LoveTrains]

Of course this is yet again another medical study that only looks at males.

[karinothing]

4 inches is a LOT of inches. That is almost enough to make it unbelievable.

[darnkatz]

My husband smoked pot through middle and high school. He is 6'1." Anecdotes and all.

[bugandbibs]

May 25, 2015 15:12:32 GMT -5 darnkatz said:

My husband smoked pot through middle and high school. He is 6'1." Anecdotes and all.

I guess potentially he could have been 6'5".

[bugandbibs]

Personally, the tatic I take with my kids is that their bodies and brains are still devolping into their 20s and they should avoid things that will interfere with that.

DD1 very much wants to be taller. This will probably get her to avoid pot for a long, long time.

[aprilsails]

Huh. My Brother started smoking pot heavily at the age of 12, which is pretty early. He's shorter than both my Sister and I by about a 1/2 inch. We always felt bad for him since we came out a pretty average height and he is 5'6.5" which is kind of short for a boy. My Sister and I never smoked, pot or otherwise.

That being said our Mom is 5'1" and our Dad is 6'1" so about 5'7" where we all landed is exactly in the middle.

More anecdotes!

[wawa]

Id be interested to see how they controlled for things like nutrition. Because any kid actually ADDICTED to pot pre-puberty seems like they'd be way less likely to be eating a balanced diet and taking their Flintstones.

[laurenpetro]

5'3.5" checking in!

[josieposy]

I wish I was little bit taller,
I wish I was a baller,
I wish I had a girl who looked good
I would call her

[LadySusan]

May 25, 2015 22:20:15 GMT -5 @bunnybean said:

Now, if only we could trick dudes and tell them it will make their DICKS 4 inches shorter, no one would ever smoke pot again!

"Buddy, it's time to give up the weed. You could be looking at a button on a fur coat kind of situation if you're not careful."

I die!

[origami]

I think I need to pass the doobie to one of my kids. Poor thing is shaping up to be a human giraffe.

[tres3]

How many kids smoke pot before puberty?

[miniroller]

May 26, 2015 5:02:38 GMT -5 tres3 said:

How many kids smoke pot before puberty?

Yeah... I was thinking that height isn't really the main issue in your household, if your 11-year-old son is smoking weed on a regular basis (or at all).

[katfco]

May 26, 2015 6:44:26 GMT -5 miniroller said:

May 26, 2015 5:02:38 GMT -5 tres3 said:

How many kids smoke pot before puberty?

Yeah... I was thinking that height isn't really the main issue in your household, if your 11-year-old son is smoking weed on a regular basis (or at all).

I teach middle school. It's kind of shocking. 

[eclaires]

I have two cousins (brothers) who started smoking pot very early (I would guess before puberty). Both would be what I would consider addicted and eventually moved on to harder drugs.

Now, their mom is really short. She's the aunt we always measured to see if we were taller than first. And their dad is on the shorter end for men in my family. But while a lot of the women in my family are average to below average, esp in the older generations, the men - even in my grandparents' generation - were in the 6'5 range. One was 6'6.

Anyway, both of them are a few inches shorter than me. I'm 5'10.

[meltoine]

The study was done in Pakistan. I'm guessing that the average age of smoking and drug use there us much lower than here, given the number of kids in treatment for opioid addiction.

[Deleted]

May 25, 2015 16:22:39 GMT -5 wawa said:

Id be interested to see how they controlled for things like nutrition. Because any kid actually ADDICTED to pot pre-puberty seems like they'd be way less likely to be eating a balanced diet and taking their Flintstones.

Yes but they are probably subsisting on a diet of Code Red, doritoes, and gummy peaches so they should at least be skinny-fat, right?

My husband is 6'6. I need to wait until he wakes up to ask him how old he was when he was smoking all that pot. I would hazard to guess he was an older teen, not prepubescent. 

[wawa]

May 26, 2015 9:26:00 GMT -5 @helenabonhamcarter said:

May 25, 2015 16:22:39 GMT -5 wawa said:

Id be interested to see how they controlled for things like nutrition. Because any kid actually ADDICTED to pot pre-puberty seems like they'd be way less likely to be eating a balanced diet and taking their Flintstones.

Yes but they are probably subsisting on a diet of Code Red, doritoes, and gummy peaches so they should at least be skinny-fat, right?

My husband is 6'6. I need to wait until he wakes up to ask him how old he was when he was smoking all that pot. I would hazard to guess he was an older teen, not prepubescent. 

Yeah, I don't think Code Red and gummy peaches are gonna help you grow up big and strong.  Though this was in India  DAMMIT, I meant Pakistan, right?  Do they have gummi peaches in india?

Dammit HBC, now I want gummi peaches.

[Deleted]

May 26, 2015 8:34:00 GMT -5 meltoine said:

The study was done in Pakistan. I'm guessing that the average age of smoking and drug use there us much lower than here, given the number of kids in treatment for opioid addiction.

Well that explains why they didn't study the girls. They were all married.

And given the stories I've read about childhood in Pakistan, I'm not shocked they're toking up at age 10 or whatever.

[Deleted]

May 26, 2015 9:29:04 GMT -5 wawa said:

May 26, 2015 9:26:00 GMT -5 @helenabonhamcarter said:

Yes but they are probably subsisting on a diet of Code Red, doritoes, and gummy peaches so they should at least be skinny-fat, right?

My husband is 6'6. I need to wait until he wakes up to ask him how old he was when he was smoking all that pot. I would hazard to guess he was an older teen, not prepubescent. 

Yeah, I don't think Code Red and gummy peaches are gonna help you grow up big and strong.  Though this was in India, right?  Do they have gummi peaches in india?

Dammit HBC, now I want gummi peaches.

True lol.

In all seriousness though, the section of Pakistani society with pot addicted children are likely the ones who aren't eating well in the first place. 

Now I'm having flashbacks to a documentary I watched about Romanian kids who were addicted to huffing spray paint. They weren't bored kids sitting in front of the playstation like our lazy pot smoking slackers. They were starving orphans who got high to forget how hungry and hopeless they were.

[wawa]

May 26, 2015 9:34:37 GMT -5 @helenabonhamcarter said:

May 26, 2015 9:29:04 GMT -5 wawa said:

Yeah, I don't think Code Red and gummy peaches are gonna help you grow up big and strong.  Though this was in India, right?  Do they have gummi peaches in india?

Dammit HBC, now I want gummi peaches.

True lol.

In all seriousness though, the section of Pakistani society with pot addicted children are likely the ones who aren't eating well in the first place. 

Now I'm having flashbacks to a documentary I watched about Romanian kids who were addicted to huffing spray paint. They weren't bored kids sitting in front of the playstation like our lazy pot smoking slackers. They were starving orphans who got high to forget how hungry and hopeless they were.

right, jokes about doritos aside, that is actually what I meant. I'm sure there are plenty of anecdotes to the contrary, but to be addicted to pot (and I'm curious how they defined this exactly) as a pre-teen/tween I have to imagine that tends to correlate with a hell of a lot of other factors that could affect general health.

[Deleted]

May 26, 2015 9:41:54 GMT -5 wawa said:

right, jokes about doritos aside, that is actually what I meant. I'm sure there are plenty of anecdotes to the contrary, but to be addicted to pot (and I'm curious how they defined this exactly) as a pre-teen/tween I have to imagine that tends to correlate with a hell of a lot of other factors that could affect general health.

If I recall correctly, Pakistan has a serious problem with the rape and selling of young poor boys. I'll have to google and find where I read that, probably another documentary.

ETA: Sadly that didn't take long at all. **Trigger Warning**
www.torontosun.com/2014/09/08/pakistans-troubling-rape-problem

[Deleted]

As it is not possible to be addicted to pot, this article lost all credibility in the first few sentences. Pot is non addictive.
I call bullshit.

[Deleted]

May 26, 2015 9:49:33 GMT -5 @eveer said:

As it is not possible to be addicted to pot, this article lost all credibility in the first few sentences. Pot is non addictive.
I call bullshit.

Not physically but you don't think one can be addicted in another ways to a substance, even just by habit?

[ttt]

May 26, 2015 9:49:33 GMT -5 @eveer said:

As it is not possible to be addicted to pot, this article lost all credibility in the first few sentences. Pot is non addictive.
I call bullshit.

It can be addictive. It is less addictive than alcohol but that doesn't mean addiction is not possible. Unfortunately theres just not a lot of research on it yet.

www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/09/is-marijuana-more-addictive-than-alcohol/380183/

[IIOY]

May 26, 2015 9:47:43 GMT -5 @helenabonhamcarter said:

May 26, 2015 9:41:54 GMT -5 wawa said:

right, jokes about doritos aside, that is actually what I meant. I'm sure there are plenty of anecdotes to the contrary, but to be addicted to pot (and I'm curious how they defined this exactly) as a pre-teen/tween I have to imagine that tends to correlate with a hell of a lot of other factors that could affect general health.

If I recall correctly, Pakistan has a serious problem with the rape and selling of young poor boys. I'll have to google and find where I read that, probably another documentary.

ETA: Sadly that didn't take long at all. **Trigger Warning**
www.torontosun.com/2014/09/08/pakistans-troubling-rape-problem

JFC this is one of the most disturbing things I've ever read.

[pixy0stix]

Also, I think there was a study that talked about the younger you start smoking, the more addictive it is.