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<p>It’s not overblown. in terms of the schizophrenia issue, it’s just that it’s a small minority of people who have this side effect. In terms of the general effects of marijuana on brain development, this is a relatively new field and it’s not well-understood yet. Even something as innocuous as a regular lack of sleep or irregular sleep patterns may cause irreversible brain damage; the extent of this is unknown as the study just came out in the past 6 months. Of course, alcohol is not good for the brain either. I’m not trying to put on Reefer Madness here. My point is that I wouldn’t tell a kid that something is ‘safe’; I would at the very least list the potential side effects and what likelihood they have of occurring, however remote. In terms of marijuana, I would be more comfortable telling someone it was safe for them if they were over 23. One last thing, in addition to the THC in the marijuana, there are other non-addictive but somewhat toxic additives. For that very reason, my neuroscience professor in Medical Pharmacology used to say that he would be in favor of legalizing THC but not marijuana.</p>
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<p>I have not smoked pot at all. I have seen a couple of cases on TV where people claim that they were introduced to a more serious drug when they thought they were going to smoke pot. I don’t think it was a big group of people, more like one other person, and the other person was comfortable with the more serious drug. You’re right that it’s not likely at all, but how likely are many of these other cases people are discussing? </p>