Opening the Weedgates: Youth at risk

By Sheela Clary, The Berkshire Edge, April 2, 2019

With comments from Nicholas Chadi

Despite the official prohibitions on studying cannabis as well as the resulting lack of scientific evidence, it is by now understood well enough that the human brain continues to develop until the age of 25, and cannabis can alter that development, resulting in adverse life outcomes. […]

For clarification on why it makes sense to discourage youth from using marijuana, I contacted Dr. Nicholas Chadi, a pediatrician specializing in adolescent and addiction medicine and a pediatric addiction medicine fellow at Boston Children’s Hospital. […]

Dr. Chadi offered that one of the biggest hurdles he faces in treating teenagers who present with marijuana dependence problems is the widespread perception that marijuana is either harmless or beneficial. Read more