Althouse: "Boys who smoke cannabis 'are four inches shorter."

May 19, 2015

"Boys who smoke cannabis 'are four inches shorter."

"New study finds that youngsters who regularly smoked marijuana are far shorter than their non-smoking peers."

43 comments:

Laslo Spatula said...: "Boys who smoke cannabis 'are four inches shorter."

And the boys who binge on Cheetos after smoking cannabis are also four inches wider.

With orange-y fingers.

I am Laslo.; 5/19/15, 9:18 AM
madAsHell said...: Oh, bullshit!!

"Where are the flashbacks they promised us"
-Jimmy Buffet....I believe.; 5/19/15, 9:18 AM
Ragin' Dave said...: This isn't really a shock to me. Cannabis is toxic as hell. Just because it's a plant doesn't make it safe.

"But Duuuuuude, it's like, NATURAL and stuff!"

So's arsenic. Your point is?; 5/19/15, 9:20 AM
madAsHell said...: "Marijuana use may provoke a stress response that stimulates onset of puberty but suppresses growth rate,” said study leader Dr Syed Shakeel Raza Rizvi, of the Agriculture University Rawalpindi in Pakistan.

Really??; 5/19/15, 9:21 AM
DanDotDan said...: Cause or effect?; 5/19/15, 9:22 AM
madAsHell said...: Some guy at the local Ag school is doing endocrinology studies??; 5/19/15, 9:23 AM
madAsHell said...: What does the Koran say about marijuana?; 5/19/15, 9:26 AM
Etienne said...: A study funded by the Canadian Cancer Society determined that smoking stunts height and BMI in boys.

It's not the cannabis, it is the smoking.; 5/19/15, 9:27 AM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: My 19 year old son has smoked way more than his share. He is 6'1", taller than my wife or myself, and right on where his pediatrician said he would end up ( predictions made before he started smoking. )

I'll have to forward him that link.

( Yes, I know that my anecdote does not disprove their study, but it does make me skeptical. ); 5/19/15, 9:28 AM
MadisonMan said...: What DandotDan says. Are they short because they smoke, or do they smoke because they're short?

(I didn't read the article, but I'm guessing they mean height, not penis length); 5/19/15, 9:39 AM
Anthony said...: If there's causality, which way does it run? Men who are shorter are often poorer and therefore more stressed; their sons will also be more stressed because of the poverty, their fathers' stress, and the social effects of being short. This might make them more likely to take up smoking pot.; 5/19/15, 9:40 AM
rehajm said...: It's time for a national conversation about correlation vs. causation.; 5/19/15, 9:43 AM
FullMoon said...: Ignorance is Bliss said... [hush][hide comment]

My 19 year old son has smoked way more than his share. He is 6'1", ....

He would have been 6' 5"; 5/19/15, 9:44 AM
Gabriel said...: New study shows that 95% of studies confuse correlation with causation.; 5/19/15, 9:46 AM
Rob said...: Nonsense. President Obama is 6'1".; 5/19/15, 9:46 AM
Lucien said...: So the study is about boys who smoke cannabis before puberty, and the article doesn't say much about how often they smoke,except to refer to them as "addicts". It doesn't seem to say what the population of subjects is, or how it was controlled for other factors, such as nutrition.

One could tell a story in which parents who care enough to keep their children properly fed also care enough to discourage them from regularly smoking cannabis before the age of puberty, and vice versa.; 5/19/15, 9:49 AM
Etienne said...: Ignorance is Bliss said...My 19 year old son...

It could be he didn't inhale...; 5/19/15, 9:49 AM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: I guess we've finally gotten to the point where it's just taken for granted that boys who smoke dope all end up growing female breasts.; 5/19/15, 9:49 AM
tds said...: tall guys smoking pot have been rounded up by police very quickly, while smaller guys remained comfortably hidden.; 5/19/15, 9:52 AM
Mary Beth said...: He is 6'1", taller than my wife or myself, and right on where his pediatrician said he would end up ( predictions made before he started smoking. )

I wonder if the study looked at the subjects predicted height compared to realized height. I doubt it since they're comparing their height to their peers instead of each boy's predicted height.

Also, it's studying "cannabis-addicted boys" in Pakistan. I wonder if there are other variables they didn't or couldn't control for.; 5/19/15, 9:53 AM
Bob Ellison said...: I just have to say … No, not going there.; 5/19/15, 9:54 AM
DKWalser said...: Are we talking about height or length?; 5/19/15, 9:57 AM
rhhardin said...: Cannibism is why the Donners didn't make it to California.; 5/19/15, 10:09 AM
Meade said...: "He's 6'5", with the afro, 6'9" — Fletch; 5/19/15, 10:11 AM
Mary Beth said...: Science Daily says this was presented at the European Congress of Endocrinology in Dublin, Ireland. The linked article and the SD one say the research team was led by Dr. Syed Shakeel Raza Rizvi.

The European Congress of Endocrinology 2015 list a speaker for Sunday named Raza Shakeel. The description of his presentation is: Reduction of growth and lesser utilisation of energy reserves in heroin addicted boys during pubertal development.

I guess you had to be there to get the nuanced part about marijuana.

I haven't found anything about it connected to Pir Mehr Ali Shah Agriculture University Rawalpindi. It might be out there somewhere, but I have work to do and shouldn't spend all morning searching for this. (But will unless I force myself to do something more productive to my work instead.); 5/19/15, 10:13 AM
Jaq said...: Lowers IQ and endows its users with the ability to refute studies with nothing more than wishful thinking at the same time. Amazing stuff, pot!; 5/19/15, 10:13 AM
Hunter said...: What other harmful magical effects would we like to believe marijuana has, in order to satisfy our irrational hatred of a plant?

(Granted, there are also a lot of people touting its positive magical effects.); 5/19/15, 10:32 AM
Hunter said...: What are the health and developmental effects associated with heavy drinking during teenage years?

There must not be any, otherwise surely alcohol would be illegal on account of the danger posed to youth.; 5/19/15, 10:34 AM
lgv said...: I'm not seeing statistical evidence being presented. How about running a model that factors in how much each "addict" vs. non-smoker from point to point and include a the genetic variables of the subject and control groups parents height.

If you are really trying to establish a relationship, you start with as many variables as possible and then peel away the ones that don't show statistical value. I wonder if they did this or just tossed out the worthless correlation, for which no valid conclusion can be made.; 5/19/15, 10:38 AM
Robert Cook said...: One must also ask...how many pre-pubescent boys are smoking pot? If the answer is "many," shouldn't that be stopped? Just because pot should be (and will eventually be) legalized doesn't mean it should be freely available for children to smoke, just as children may not freely purchase or use cigarettes or booze, both legal to manufacture, sell, and purchase for use.

Many activities that are fine for adults are not fine for developing children.; 5/19/15, 11:04 AM
Jaq said...: Who "hates" pot? I don't. I don't "hate" heroin, or alcohol, or carbon dioxide. Hate is an emotion of the left.

I just think that, judging by the heavy users I know, pot may very well affect IQ, and I don't enjoy it that much, and I know that when I was in college, if I used it on a Tuesday, it was Thursday or Friday before my head was clear again. I am sure though, that you heavy users are certain that this is not the case with you.; 5/19/15, 11:18 AM
traditionalguy said...: This will be a boom for the step stool industry. But they can marry the tall girls unless they also wear shorts.; 5/19/15, 12:13 PM
n.n said...: Puff the hallucinating midget.; 5/19/15, 12:15 PM
Vittorio Jano IV said...: I know what Randy Newman might say about these boys.; 5/19/15, 12:35 PM
Anonymous said...: Blogger Meade said...
"He's 6'5", with the afro, 6'9" — Fletch

Big Guy in Jail says, "Bend Over"

"Hey Ben, I'm Fletch!"; 5/19/15, 12:57 PM
William said...: Poor Steffi. They keep piling on. There's no reason to believe that past pot abuse played any part in his current ethical lapses........I think the most subversive thing you can say about pot is that liquor is a better high.; 5/19/15, 1:17 PM
David said...: Robert Cook said...

Many activities that are fine for adults are not fine for developing children.

Robert, one of the points is that if pot does this to children, a second look at its effect on adults might be in order.; 5/19/15, 1:57 PM
3john2 said...: "NBA in an Uproar"; 5/19/15, 2:11 PM
Robert Cook said...: "Hate is an emotion of the left."

Oh, ba-ruther! Now fundamental human emotions are purely political.

Hate is an emotion of soylen---uh, Soylent Green is peop---uh, hate is an emotion of people!; 5/19/15, 5:47 PM
lonetown said...: Pot trolls?; 5/19/15, 6:48 PM
Fritz said...: Needs a "bad science" tag.; 5/19/15, 6:50 PM
Mountain Maven said...: We'll still legalize it because the 60's; 5/19/15, 8:42 PM
Corky Boyd said...: "Boys who smoke cannabis 'are four inches shorter."

What portion of his body is 4 inches shorter. That may be something to really worry about.; 5/19/15, 9:05 PM