Using empirical research to inform policy decisions is difficult. [thread] This article argues that cannabis should be restricted for people aged < 25, bc a study finds that adolescent cannabis consumption is assoc w/ a reduction in IQ in adulthood https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/16/opinion/marijuana-brain-effects.html … BUT
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the study https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/early/2012/08/22/1206820109.full.pdf … only controls for years of edu, sex & childhd IQ… For schizophrenia, assoc w both cannabis consumption & IQ declines in adulthood https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3947263/ … they simply excluded the 28 ppl w SCZ diagnoses - a rather blunt way to test confoundingpic.twitter.com/SNXwKddJ61
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The problems w confounding by SES were pointed out in 2013 by
@olerogeberg here http://www.olerogeberg.com/2013/03/cannabis-iq-and-socio-economic-status.html … & here https://www.pnas.org/content/110/11/4251 … In 2016 another study addressing these issues found no assoc. after adjusting for cig smoking & childhood mental health https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0269881115622241 …pic.twitter.com/hm7KgILbC8
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Most importantly, *even if* there was a causal assoc b/e cannabis & IQ decline, it doesn't follow that cannabis should be prohibited: Prohibition could cause all sorts of effects, e.g.
crime,
THC content – the opposite of what you'd want if there was a causal relationship.pic.twitter.com/EQ6gMWYXcq
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It's wrong to jump from evidence that X is bad --> X should be restricted, not only bc research findings can be contradictory or difficult to interpret. Policies aiming to target behaviours vary - some might be poorly designed, have unknown effects or clash with other values.
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Yet it's still common for studies that investigate individual behaviours to have conclusions related to policy decisions. That's not good - empirical research matters but IMO insufficient for decisions w/o evidence on policy itself, or without reasoning or judgments about values.
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eigenrobot Retweeted eigenrobot
deeply conflictedhttps://twitter.com/eigenrobot/status/1139014275551285250?s=19 …
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