[by Dean Smith] Researchers at Pakistan’s Pir Mehr Ali Shaw Agriculture University concluded that teenage boys who regularly smoke marijuana could have their growth stunted by as much as four inches.

The research team studied select hormones in two groups of boys — 217 who regularly smoked Cannabis and 220 boys who didn’t. Using blood tests, they specifically focused on hormones that affect puberty and growth.

They discovered that boys who regularly used Marijuana had higher levels of testosterone and luteinising — both hormones related to puberty. Thought these hormone levels spiked, they noted that this group also had lower levels of growth hormones.

Luteinising regulates the function of both men’s testes and women’s ovaries and testosterone in men is the main hormone affecting the development of reproductive organs (testis and prostate) and male characteristics such as increased bone mass, muscle and body hair.

The result is that regular marijuana usage by teen boys could result in the early onset of puberty, but not the predictable growth cycle that comes with it.

This resulted in a marked difference in the two groups. On average, by age 20, those who smoked marijuana regularly were 4.6 inches shorter and 4 kilograms lighter than those who did not use Cannabis.

According to the study, early puberty could have harmful consequences as it often leads to earlier alcohol usage and participation in illicit drug use and smoking. The potential damage caused by these activities is much higher the younger a person is when they begin using them.

The group presented their study at the European Congress of Endcorinology held in Dublin, Ireland, May 16-20, 2015.

 Blinded by political correctness?

It’s amazing how in an effort to be politically correct, politicians are rapidly moving to legalize marijuana. This process leaves the impression the drug is safe. However, Marijuana usage has long been associated with psychiatric problems and this study suggests, it can potentially impact a person physically as well.

Why is this happening?

The Apostle Paul has a possible explanation. He speaks of a blindness on people’s minds that prevents them from hearing the gospel.

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, ⁴ in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Corinthians 4:3-4 NASV)

It’s a cloud that covers people’s eyes so they are unable to see clearly. Paul says that it is the god of this world who has done this. If satan has the ability to blind people to the gospel, I suspect he can do it in other areas as well.

Read more:

• Cannabis ‘stunts growth in teens’: Frequent users of the drug during puberty ‘are 4.6in shorter and 9lb lighter at age 20 than those who didn’t smoke’: Dailymail