The Medical Case Against Kids Smoking Pot

As states loosen their marijuana laws, a doctor warns that the drug can be addictive and harmful to younger minds

- Sushrut Jangi, MD From The Boston Globe

These days, it’s decidedly uncool to criticize marijuana and the rush toward legalization. So far, 29 states and the District of Columbia allow medical marijuana, while nine states and DC permit recreational use. Sixty-one percent of Americans say they believe the drug should be legal, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey.

But underscoring this incredible momentum for legalization is the misconception that marijuana can’t hurt anybody. It can—especially young people. The myth that cannabis, another name for the plant, is not habit forming is constantly challenged by physicians. “There’s no question at all that marijuana is addictive,”Sharon Levy, MD, tells me. She is the director of the Adolescent Substance Abuse Program at Boston Children’s Hospital, one of a few programs designed to preemptively identify substance-use problems in teens. Anyone can get hooked, but about one of every six teens who smoke marijuana will become addicted, research shows.

One of Dr. Levy’s patients was an 18-year-old who started smoking pot several times a day in tenth grade. She dropped out of high school, was fired from several jobs, and stole money from her parents. “She and her family were at their wits’ end trying to find appropriate treatment in a health-care system that doesn’t consider addiction to marijuana a serious problem,” Dr. Levy says. “We are simply not prepared for the fallout of marijuana legalization.”