HealthDay News — Men who are heavy cannabis smokers in their teens may not live as long as those who do not use cannabis during adolescence, according to a study published online April 22 in The American Journal of Psychiatry.
Researchers examined data from more than 45,000 men in Sweden who did compulsory military training in 1969 to 1970 and were followed until 2011.
About 4000 of the men died during the 42-year study period. Those who were heavy cannabis users in their late teens were 40% more likely to die by age 60 than those who never used the drug, the investigators found.
The risk of death from either accidental injury or suicide among the men rose in accordance with their level of cannabis use as teens, researcher Edison Manrique-Garcia, MD, PhD, of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, said in a news release from the American Psychiatric Association.
