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Rethinking Cannabis and IQ: Socioeconomic Factors as Confounding Variables
A newly published study challenges the established notion that heavy cannabis use in adolescence leads to lower IQ by middle age, proposing that the observed IQ declines in previous research could instead be attributed to confounding socioeconomic factors. Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, this study is spearheaded by Ole Røgeberg, a labor economist at the Ragnar Frisch Center for Economic Research in Oslo. Røgeberg utilized simulations to explore alternative explanations for the IQ declines reported in earlier studies, particularly focusing on how varying socioeconomic conditions over time might influence educational opportunities and cognitive development independently of cannabis use.
The paper scrutinizes the accessibility of educational resources among lower-income individuals, suggesting that reduced access to schooling can have a significant impact on cognitive outcomes, which previous studies may have mistakenly attributed to cannabis use. This perspective challenges the methodology and findings of earlier research which claimed that cannabis use consistently lowers IQ, regardless of the user’s socioeconomic status. Røgeberg’s critique is supported by references to three other studies where no significant link between cannabis use and declining IQ was observed.
This discourse invites a broader consideration of how socioeconomic status can intertwine with other lifestyle factors to influence cognitive development. The findings suggest that researchers need to apply more nuanced analytical models that consider a wider array of confounding variables to truly understand the impacts of cannabis on cognitive functions. This approach underscores the complexity of disentangling the specific effects of cannabis from the broader social and economic contexts in which users live.
Despite the compelling arguments presented by Røgeberg, the debate remains open, as the initial study’s researchers maintain that they adequately controlled for socioeconomic factors and still identified a decline in IQ among heavy cannabis users across all socioeconomic strata. Both sides of the debate agree on the necessity for further research to clarify these relationships and better understand the long-term impacts of cannabis use on intellectual development. The ongoing discussion highlights the dynamic and evolving nature of research in this area, indicating that definitive conclusions may still be on the horizon.
The study, titled “Correlations between cannabis use and IQ change in the Dunedin cohort are consistent with confounding from socioeconomic status,” was conducted by Ole Røgeberg of the Ragnar Frisch Center for Economic Research in Oslo.
