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More than one third of high-school seniors have reported using marijuana in the previous year. To elucidate the potential effect of adolescent marijuana use on cognitive function, investigators surveyed a community sample of 387 adolescents, along with a caregiver, nine times between ages 11–12 and 20–21. Questionnaires were used to assess past-year marijuana use, alcohol use, conduct disorder, and the executive functions of attentional and inhibitory control.
Analyses controlled for baseline attentional control, early alcohol use, and conduct disorder features. Heavy use of marijuana at ages 12–14 predicted significantly lower attentional control at ages 18–21. Inhibitory control was also lower in late adolescence among early heavy users, b…