Smoking too much Marijuana can Stunt Growth, Study Claims

Teenagers who smoke too much marijuana can risk severely stunting their growth, a new study reported.

For this study, the researchers from Pir Mehr Ali Shah Agriculture University in Pakistan recruited 437 male participants aged 13 to 15. Roughly half of the sample set (217) was categorized as cannabis addicts, which was defined as using cannabis with tobacco two to three times a day. Boys in the other group did not use the drug.

The team followed the boys' growth for up to five years. They found that boys who used cannabis more frequently than others during their teenage years were 4.6 inches shorter at age 20 than boys of the same age who did not use the drug. The cannabis users were also nearly nine pounds lighter than the other group.

The researchers noted that the boys who smoked marijuana went though puberty much earlier than the boys who did not smoke.

"Early puberty is associated with younger age of onset of drinking and smoking and early maturers have higher levels of substance abuse because they enter the risk period at an early level of emotional maturity," the researchers concluded.

The same team of researchers also examined stress levels, measured by the hormone, cortisol, in 10 marijuana addicts. The researchers found that smokers had higher levels of this stress hormone than non-smokers.

A press release for the study can be found at Science Daily.