Looks like marijuana is taking over….
Data from a new study reveals daily marijuana usage is more popular than drinking alcohol in the United States.
Dr. David A. Gorelick, a psychiatry professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, says the growing number of daily users suggests a rise in people being at risk of developing problematic cannabis use. “High-frequency use also increases the risk of developing cannabis-associated psychosis,” a severe condition where a person loses touch with reality,” the professor said.
Addiction psychiatrist Colin Reiff attributes schizophrenia to excessive cannabis use in some young people, particularly young men, as their brains are still maturing at a young age. “The legalized age for cannabis should be around 33 years old, when people are outside the window of developing schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and a lot of other things,” Reiff said.
“Or most certainly it should be after 26, once the prefrontal cortex is done developing.”
However, that doesn’t seem to bother a certain demographic — people aged 18 to 24, with 69% preferring marijuana to alcohol. “I transitioned over into cannabis cause I saw that there’s limitless possibilities with the flavors,” said Matthew Everett, a smoker and Work ‘N’ Roll patron. “And I found like, hey, I don’t have a hangover the next day, too.”
Work ‘N’ Roll is an NYC-based cannabis-friendly coworking space where members, for as little as $15 a day, can smoke and work freely at the same time. Alcohol is banned on the premises, but bringing your own cannabis or having it delivered is allowed. Other members, Golda Moldavsky and Ellis Sudak, also in their twenties, say they don’t miss alcohol at all.
“I don’t miss it,” Sudak said.
Source: Black Enterprise
