COLLEGE STATION, Texas — It is legal to smoke marijuana recreationally in eleven states and that number may continue to change with elections this year.
A recently published study in the Journal of Neuroscience reveals the dangers to teenagers when they begin to smoke weed.
“As the adolescent matures, the brain gets smaller, that’s kind of counter intuitive isn’t it. That provides him with room for growth, expansion, as he does get older and takes in new information and allows that brain to grow,” said BVCASA prevention specialist Bill Roberts.
But with the consistent intake of marijuana, gray matter grows in the brain, which is associated with long-term effects.
“What we’re seeing with the change in the brain size, the brain volume, the brain is not developing in the way it should be. And they need that, the teenagers, that frontal cortex make wise decisions…and those kind of things and their decision capabilities are impaired,” said Roberts.
As students grow older out of their teenage years, the usage of recreational marijuana doesn’t necessarily decrease.
“ We normally average about 420 marijuana arrests each year. So we’ve seen about a 60% increase just these last two months compared to the same time period that are in 2019 or 2018,” said College Station Police Officer Tristen Lopez.
The College Station Police Department says nearly 60% of those arrested are college students.
Under Texas law, it is illegal to use or possess marijuana.
“Depends on the amount of marijuana you have but as long as you have at least a usable amount of marijuana then it’s going to be a class b misdemeanor or higher, which means you would be arrested, go to jail and face jail time,” said Lopez.
Low THC cannabis or hemp was legalized in Texas last year and different cities around the state including Austin are looking into a decriminalization bill.
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