Marijuana Use Impacts Academics

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Marijuana Use Impacts Academics

Marijuana Use Impacts Academics

Research shows that there is a definite link between teen substance abuse and how well you do in school. Teens who abuse drugs have lower grades, a higher rate of absence from school and other activities, and an increased potential for dropping out of school.

Although we all know or hear stories about people who use drugs and still get great grades, this is not typical. Most people who use drugs regularly don’t consistently do well in school.

Many youths think marijuana is not as harmful as other illicit drugs, though in fact, it has both short-term and long-term negative health effects.

Research shows that teens who use marijuana are also more likely to have lower academic achievement, more delinquent behavior such as absence from school and other activities, increased rates of aggression, and weaker relationships with parents, compared to teens who don’t use marijuana. (Source: Child Trends – Data Bank Report. Dec. 2016)

Are You SMART? - Don't Smoke Weed!

Decreases Grades & Ability To Learn
Impact on College Plans

Research shows that students who use marijuana don’t do as well in school, as compared to their non-using counterparts.

- A teen user’s odds of dropping out of high school are more than twice that of non-users.

Marijuana use affects memory, judgment and perception.

- Teens with an average grade of “D” or below are more than four times as likely to have used marijuana in the past year as teens who reported an average grade of “A.”

A lack of motivation (amotivational syndrome) is also associated with long-term marijuana use.

Teens may exhibit this by not caring about what happens in their lives and a lack of concern about the future. As a result of these symptoms, some users tend to perform poorly in school.

Students who plan to complete four years of college are less likely than those who do not have such plans to have used marijuana in the past month.

The Child Trends Data Report shows that in 2016:

8th graders without college plans were nearly 3 times more likely than other 8th graders to have used marijuana in the past month (16% and 6%, respectively).
10th graders without college plans were more than twice as likely to have used marijuana in the past month than other 10th graders (28% versus 13% percent, respectively).
Differences by college plans, while not as large as in 8th or 10th grade, were still pronounced at 12th grade with 25% of 12th graders without college plans having used marijuana in the past month versus 20% of 12 graders who do have college plans.

Ultimately, marijuana use affects the way the brain processes and retains information—and how you think, learn, remember, focus, and concentrate.

Want to be the smartest person you can be? Then start by not using marijuana.

Decreases Grades & Ability To Learn

Research shows that students who use marijuana don’t do as well in school, as compared to their non-using counterparts.

- A teen user’s odds of dropping out of high school are more than twice that of non-users.

Marijuana use affects memory, judgment and perception.

- Teens with an average grade of “D” or below are more than four times as likely to have used marijuana in the past year as teens who reported an average grade of “A.”

A lack of motivation (amotivational syndrome) is also associated with long-term marijuana use.

Teens may exhibit this by not caring about what happens in their lives and a lack of concern about the future. As a result of these symptoms, some users tend to perform poorly in school.

Impact on College Plans

Students who plan to complete four years of college are less likely than those who do not have such plans to have used marijuana in the past month.

The Child Trends Data Report shows that in 2016:

8th graders without college plans were nearly 3 times more likely than other 8th graders to have used marijuana in the past month (16% and 6%, respectively).
10th graders without college plans were more than twice as likely to have used marijuana in the past month than other 10th graders (28% versus 13% percent, respectively).
Differences by college plans, while not as large as in 8th or 10th grade, were still pronounced at 12th grade with 25% of 12th graders without college plans having used marijuana in the past month versus 20% of 12 graders who do have college plans.

Ultimately, marijuana use affects the way the brain processes and retains information—and how you think, learn, remember, focus, and concentrate.

Want to be the smartest person you can be? Then start by not using marijuana.