Marijuana abuse and excessive drinking during the early teen years results to a higher risk of unwanted early pregnancy, sexually transmitted disease, school failure, criminal convictions, and substance dependence later in life, a new study published by the Psychological Science journal revealed.

Avshalom Caspi, a psychologist at the Duke University, led this study which is the first of its kind to seek an answer to an age long question similar to the chicken and egg riddle. Is it bad kids of who use drugs or is it drugs that make bad kids?

According to Caspi, the answer to the question is both. Half of the subjects who used marijuana and alcohol before the turning 15 were “bad kids” who came from substance-abusing, criminal, or otherwise abusive households and have records of behavioral problems. The other half of the subject were “good kids” who came from stable family backgrounds, but they also have had poorer health during their 30s. “The good kids who do drugs end up looking like the bad kids who didn’t do drugs.” Caspi explained.

The “good kids” with neither family risk factors or behavior problems but used drugs and alcohol before turning 15 were 3.6 times more likely to develop full blown substance addiction by he time they reach the age of 32. Furthermore, they were more likely than their fellow good kids who never touched alcohol or drugs to develop herpes infection or end up in jail.

Caspi said that regardless of their goodness or badness, young teenagers who regularly abused drugs and alcohol are bound to have poorer health when they become adults. “This is consistent with a growing body of evidence that early adolescence may be a sensitive time for exposure to alcohol and other drugs,” the Duke psychologist added. Caspi also clarified that the kids referred to in their study are not the ones who tried alcohol for a couple of times. These are according to him, adolescents who have invested in, purchased, and regularly used drugs and alcohol.

The authors of the study collectively call for universal intervention measures that would give all children, not just those who are at risk, an adequate amount of protection against substance abuse and the consequences that stems from it.

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The eligibility of hepatitis C patients who have smoked marijuana, legally or otherwise, to receive surgery and transplant is a major issue for liver transplant centers. Apparently, almost 70% of transplant clinics in the United States are against performing the surgery under the given situation. On the contrary, some 60% of Canadian transplant center divulged that they are willing to do the transplant on such patients or at the very least, consider performing it. These findings were revealed in a study led by a researcher from the University of Alberta in Canada.

Lead researcher Karen Kroeker found the fact that some centers deny liver transplant to hepatitis C patients with history of marijuana use quite alarming. According to her there is no sufficient literature to back the surgeon’s decisions of denying transplant to patients because they use or have used marijuana. Most of these patients look up to liver transplant as their only way out to better health.

Based on the results of her study, Kroeker asked physicians to set forth standard criteria on liver-transplant eligibility that is based on the patients likelihood of rejecting a transplanted organ. She added that these criteria should be base solely on empirical evidence.

“If we have evidence to say the patients don’t do well, then I think that’s a reason to exclude people,” she explained while pointing out that history of marijuana use alone should not be a factor in determining a patient’s eligibility for liver transplant.

Kroeker likened the case of prejudice against marijuana use to previously existing stereotypes against hepatitis C patients with alcohol problems and/or HIV. During the early years of liver transplant as a treatment procedure for the said disease, patients with drinking problems were not considered for transplant. It was also Kroeker who conducted the study which questioned and later overturned this practice. To date, most transplant centers in North America are willing to perform liver transplant as long as the patient was sober for the last sixth months prior to surgery.

Hepatitis C patients who tested positive for HIV also experienced a similar ordeal. The said disease was considered an absolute contraindication to transplant because most people believed that it was already a death sentence. This belief was later changed and at present, new studies are currently carried out on post-transplant HIV positive patients in hopes of determining the feasibility of transplant for HIV patients in general.

More information and news on the ill effects of marijuana use and drug abuse are available in this website. Pacific Hills Treatment Centers offers Christian drug treatment to people who wish to renew their life for the better. Call our helpline today so we can discuss your situation.