One researched study does not justify a broad-sweeping assumption. However, when enough research points to dangers or harmful possibilities, that is enough reason for me to pause and strongly consider something is worth believing.

I can’t say it better than the head of the predominant research body on addiction in the United States. Below I quote from a letter written by Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, regarding marijuana use:

“We know from abundant research that marijuana use during adolescence has the potential to set young people up for a cascade of life-altering events, impeding their success and hindering them from fulfilling their potential.

“Marijuana use, particularly when initiated at a young age, sets the user on a downward life trajectory, one that is driven by a constellation of factors that include altered cognitive and social development.

“Research suggests that about 9 percent of all users become addicted and that, among those who start young, the percentage is closer to 17 percent — or one in six. A quarter to a half of those who use marijuana daily are addicted to the drug. Thus many of the nearly 7 percent of high-school seniors who say they smoke marijuana on a daily or near-daily basis are already addicted or are well on their way—besides functioning at a sub-optimal level all of the time.

“We clearly face an uphill battle getting this message across. With recreational marijuana use recently legalized in two states and increasing public pressure to ease restrictions on the drug nationwide, the availability of this drug is bound to increase.

“The key may be to do a better job of educating America’s youth about the value of their brains, and how utterly important it is not to engage in behaviors that could permanently compromise that organ during a very vulnerable period in its development.”