Scientists Have Bad News If You Are Still Smoking Weed at 30

Aside from the contrary evidence, it’s critical to remember that cannabis use can negatively impact your life in ways unrelated to the drug itself.

Scientists claim that using weed when you’re young is not harmful, but your results may vary if you continue to use it far into adulthood.

Researchers from the University of Queensland in Australia recently studied the success rates for both cannabis and amphetamine users in a study that was published in the journal Addiction Research & Theory.

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The team discovered that both drugs were linked to lower success rates based on nine distinct criteria, including education, income, home ownership, relationship status, and reported happiness, but only if they were used into adulthood. The data they used came from over 8,000 mothers and 2,000 children about drug use at ages 21 and 30.

There are probably some problems in the study, for any offended stoners out there. One reason is that there is no assurance that the Australian mothers and children dataset accurately represents a larger or more modernized global population. Some of the data in the dataset date back to 1981. For example, having a home and being in a committed relationship aren’t always the best indicators of success.

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The data did not show if the cannabis users in question also experimented with other substances besides amphetamines, leaving a significant question of correlation hanging over the weed findings, which the researchers also highlighted as a significant problem.

“We do not have adequate data on other illicit drugs that may be being used, for example, ecstasy, opiates, and even synthetic drugs,” the scientists wrote in the study. “A subset of those using cannabis as well as amphetamines may also be using a range of other drugs and it may be that our findings reflect polydrug use generally rather than the specific use of cannabis and amphetamines.”

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Even so, the findings are intriguing—at least as a starting point for additional research. In general, the researchers discovered that young drug users had a good tendency for success in life—as long as they sobered up quickly enough.

All bets were off after 30, though.

“We found people who used cannabis and amphetamines at 30 had substantially lower levels of life success,” Najman said in a press release.

Aside from the inconsistent facts, it’s important to keep in mind that cannabis might ruin your life in ways that aren’t even remotely related to the drug. For example, those who are found with it may become involved in the criminal justice system, starting a self-fulfilling cycle of unfavorable results. The new research, on the other hand, seems to sidestep that issue without fully appreciating its implications.

“Antisocial behavior and contact with the criminal justice system are the strongest predictors of continued drug use, along with problems at school and aggressive or delinquent behavior early in life,” Najman argued in the statement, adding that the findings “raise the possibility that targeted interventions for children who show early signs of antisocial behavior or poor school performance may reduce drug use and lead to improved life success.”

By the way, it should be noted that Australia has been a major exception from the general global trend of cannabis legalization, which may have an impact on the results and interpretation of this particular study.

At the end of the day, we still don’t fully understand how marijuana usage affects societal outcomes. Some studies have shown that occasionally sparking is linked to a higher quality of life.

Despite this, it would be beneficial for us all to periodically reevaluate our drug use and to understand that policy changes have no impact on how harmful a substance is.

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