text_1: Surprising news about teens, marijuana, and health issues. It’s all good.
text_2: The story describes one study of about 400 men who were followed from their teens in the late 1980s until 2010. The researchers found no increased risk of asthma, depression, lung cancer or mental illness, which the story seems to accept as a big reassurance. We felt the story did not squarely address the study limitations as described by the authors themselves in the paper. Instead, the “surprising news” came in a single-source story, lifting quotes from a news release, without any independent perspective or adequate context. Millions of individuals, of all ages, are making current decisions about medical and recreational marijuana use every day. Medical research on the health impacts of that exposure matter for each person and for society as a whole. This story over-valued the conclusion of a single small study based on a sample of only young men. Yes, the study results were interesting and indeed add to a body of knowledge about the use of marijuana by adolescents but it is by no means definitive. Suggesting, “it’s all good” is a misleading leap based on this one limited study.