“Don’t smoke marijuana as a teenager because it will screw you up as an adult.” Countless teenagers have been told something like this, either through anti-marijuana propaganda or parental wisdom.

And it makes sense — maybe introducing psychoactive drugs on a still-developing teenage brain isn’t the smartest of decisions.

Now, a new study that tracked the lives of teenage marijuana smokers for decades reveals how smoking marijuana as a teenager really affects one’s physical and mental health as an adult.

The Study

California's most valuable cash crop, marijuana, is taking a heavy toll on some of the state's most sensitive ecosystems, with the effects ranging from erosion, contamination, threats to wildlife, and heavy water use at a time of severe drought. 

The situation is prompting ecologists and wildlife managers to urge greater focus on bringing marijuana plots under tighter environmental scrutiny.

As the US legislations around medical marijuana relaxes, with almost half of the states either legalizing or decriminalizing the recreational and medical use of cannabis, we are seeing the development of an industry brimming with new businesses. Potbox joins this new breed of ventures by offering a gourmet, monthly subscription of organic, ethically grown medical marijuana for health-conscious — or high-living — smokers.

Prosecutors have dropped marijuana charges and will return items seized from a Kimball Township woman in the wake of a Michigan Supreme Court ruling last week, the woman learned Wednesday.

“I’m elated that this part is over,” said Ginnifer Hency. “It’s been a long year.”

St. Clair County Prosecutor Michael Wendling said about 18 cases were on hold while prosecution and defense waited on the Supreme Court decision.

“We re-evaluated the files that we had pending and at least five were no longer viable in light of the Supreme Court decision,” Wendling said.

“I think that’s an analysis that prosecutors across the state are undertaking.”

Toronto Vaping Comedy Rooms

How is this possible? That’s the first question usually asked by out-of-town comics when they walk in on one of Toronto’s Vapor Lounge comedy shows. The center of Canada’s comedy universe is home to a series of weekly rooms where audience members can openly smoke marijuana while enjoying some of the best standup the city has to offer.

Hunter Collins hosts Third Klass Thursdays at Vapor Central. “We’re up to at least half a dozen venues in the city that do multiple shows. You can basically just do weed shows during the week and then clubs on the weekends.”

A cannabis resin seized on Monday made port in the Caribbean, on a container ship came from Havre, highlights some new practices of "commercial" traffickers.

The new Drug Enforcement Administration chief has finally made it clear: Marijuana is safer than heroin. 

DEA head Chuck Rosenberg told reporters Wednesday morning at the administration's headquarters that "heroin is clearly more dangerous than marijuana," clarifying a less definitive statement he made last week, when he said marijuana is "probably not" as dangerous as heroin. Rosenberg said cannabis is still "harmful and dangerous," but that his original remarks should have been clearer.

Cameras were not allowed at the press briefing, but DEA spokesman Joseph Moses confirmed Rosenberg's remarks to The Huffington Post.

Researchers in Marseilles, France have substantiated what we all suspected, cannabis use is strongly associated with the so-called sliding sports: surfing, windsurfing, skiing, sailing and of course, snowboarding. A lot of athletes that practice these sports may do it for the thrill, and cannabis can complement this feeling while simultaneously helping athletes focus.

It’s a different kind of smoke than they’re used to. Several Bay Area medical marijuana dispensaries say wildfires around California are hurting their industry. They claim cannabis plants are growing around some of state’s fires, especially the Rocky Fire near Clear Lake.

By Wednesday night, the Rocky Fire burned 69,600 acres and destroyed 43 homes.

Timothy Anderson is the purchasing manager at Harborside Health Center, a medical marijuana dispensary in Oakland. He says one of the burned homes belonged to a cannabis grower who provided them with product.

With the widespread availability of marijuana in recent years thanks to its legalization in a growing number of states, there has been increasing concern about the long-term health consequences on teens who might be able to get easier access to it illegally.

A study published by the American Psychological Association in the journalPsychology of Addictive Behaviors this week should alleviate some of the worst fears.