Early Marijuana Use Affects Puberty

New research suggests that young males who smoke marijuana will enter puberty at an early age, but will grow at a slower rate. This was the conclusion of a study of 200 non-smoking young men and 217 marijuana-addicted men.

Researchers analyzed blood samples of both groups of young men. They found that in the marijuana smokers, the testosterone and luteinizing hormone levels were much higher than the non-smokers. However, the smokers had less growth hormones in their blood. Furthermore, the smokers had a higher level of cortisol, the stress hormone, in their blood than the non-smokers.

Over the time they were studied, it was found that the non-smoking boys were heavier and generally were over 4 inches taller than the smokers. This furthers the researchers’ point of marijuana affecting growth and weight during puberty.

This is an interesting and important topic of study because 38 percent of young adults will try marijuana. With the legalization of marijuana happening all over the United States, this percentage is predicted to increase over the years.