New research suggests that smoking marijuana regularly stunts growth in teens, Newser reported.
Researchers found that boys who smoke cannabis marijuana go through puberty earlier but grow more slowly than those who have never smoked the drug. Non-smoking boys were on average nearly 9 pounds heavier and 4.6 inches taller by the age of 20 than marijuana smokers.
Marijuana is the most widely available and commonly used drug in Europe, it is estimated that it has been used by 80.5 million Europeans at least once in their life, The Voice reported.
"Early puberty is associated with younger age of onset of drinking and smoking, and early matures have higher levels of substance abuse because they enter the risk period at an early level of emotional maturity," explained Dr. Syed Shakeel Raza Rizvi, who led the study.
For the study, researchers at the Pir Mehr Ali Shah Agriculture University Rawalpindi in Pakistan collected and analyzed data from 220 non-smoking and 217 marijuana-addicted boys. Levels of puberty-related hormones such as testosterone and luteinising hormone (LH) were increased in the marijuana smokers. In contrast, growth hormone levels were decreased in this group.
The latest report reveals that the highest prevalence of marijuana use is in young people between the ages of 15 and 24 year olds and is significantly higher among males than females.
The findings were presented at the European Congress of Endocrinology in Dublin, Ireland.
