Put down the weed!
Many across the country are using marijuana at an increasingly high rate – but researchers are begging young women who use the common drug to put off after a shocking study.
Researchers found young women who smoke the drug could possibly be triggering severe fertility issues — like cutting the variety of eggs they carry by half.
University of California-Irvine researchers gave female mice the drug tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC — the chemical present in cannabis — and located it negatively affects healthy ovarian follicles.
When the mice who got THC reached their adolescent age, researchers found that they had 50 percent fewer healthy ovarian follicles than the control group (also at their adult age).
A mouse reaches adolescence by the point they’re three months old.
UCI researchers point to the body’s endocannabinoid system because the offender. They consider the system negatively impacts healthy ovarian follicles, damaging them in a roundabout way while processing THC or switching them on too soon.
In 2021, data collected on marijuana usage in young adults entirely and marijuana usage on a every day showed sky-rocketing numbers for the reason that trend was first monitored in 1988, in keeping with National Institute on Drug abuse.
There was a significant jump in young adults who used recreational weed in 2021, which was 43%, in comparison with young adults who used it in 2016 and 2011.
An 11 percent increase of young adults using weed every day in 2021 was reported as compared to eight% in 2016 and 6% in 2011.
And never only is the difficulty with the young generation smoking the drug — it’s using THC in edibles — reminiscent of products like cookies, gummies, and brownies that may easily be purchased at corner stores.
Poison control centers are also putting blame on edibles for the rise in reported calls for weed-related incidents.
“Our study describes an upward trend in marijuana abuse exposures amongst youth, especially those involving edible products,” Dr. Adrienne Hughes, an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Oregon Health & Science University and coauthor of the study, said in an announcement.
“In comparison with smoking cannabis, which generally ends in an instantaneous high, intoxication from edible types of marijuana often takes several hours, which can lead some individuals to eat greater amounts and experience unexpected and unpredictable highs,” she added.
Recent York City is among the many 21 states who legalized marijuana for recreational use, as more states are greater than more likely to follow — only adding to the growing problem.
