Meg Wagner, Daily News, Aug 5, 2015
Teen potheads are out of the weeds.
Frequent marijuana use as a teenager does not appear to be linked to physical or mental health issues later in life, according to a new study.
Researchers tracked 408 men from their teen years into their mid-30s and found no connection between pot and medical conditions such as depression, psychotic symptoms or asthma.
That goes against some previous studies which have suggested youths' marijuana use could cause mental and physical health problems years later.
"What we found was a little surprising," said lead researcher Jordan Bechtold said in a statement. "There were no differences in any of the mental or physical health outcomes that we measured regardless of the amount or frequency of marijuana used during adolescence."
Scientists from University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Rutgers University started tracking a group of 14-year-olds in the late 1980s and checked in with them regularly until they were 36.