Teenagers who regularly booze or smoke cannabis are less likely to enjoy life as a happily married adult, new research suggests.
They also hamper their chances of obtaining a degree, having a highly-paid career – or even have any full-time job.
The findings, dubbed ‘important’, portray the common belief youngsters will end up unmotivated if they use either substance heavily during their teenage years.
A host of research has shown the substances can affect the development of young adults, however little is known as to how it hampers adults.
The new study highlights that heavy usage of alcohol or cannabis has a detrimental and lasting effect, even decades later.
New research suggests that teenagers who regularly booze or smoke cannabis are less likely to enjoy life as a happily married adult
How was the study carried out?
To make the findings, University of Connecticut researchers tracked the effect of teenage alcohol and marijuana use on 1,165 young adults.
Every participant began the study when they were 12, and were then monitored every two years until they reached between 25 and 34.
Most of the volunteers had an alcoholic family member – meaning they were more likely to booze themselves.
Important research
Dr Elizabeth Harari, lead researcher, said: ‘Awareness of marijuana’s potentially deleterious effects will be important moving forward.
‘This study found that chronic marijuana use in adolescence was negatively associated with achieving important developmental milestones in young adulthood.’
The team of researchers wanted to examine the impact of heavy usage of the two substances on the achievement of life goals.
These were defined as educational achievement, full-time employment, marriage and social economic potential.
What did they find?
They discovered that long-term alcohol or cannabis use may have a more severe effect on young men rather than women.
Boys were less likely to achieve less across all four measures, however girls were only hampered for two of the items tracked.
They were equally likely to get married or have a full-time job as other young girls who weren’t heavy users of marijuana or alcohol growing up.
The findings were presented at the American Public Health Association 2017 Annual Meeting & Expo in Atlanta, Georgia.
It follows pioneering research last month that showed cannabis users are more likely to commit violent crime.
Canadian scientists warned those who smoke the drug regularly run an increased risk of using violence against others.