When Americans discovered that ingested lead lowered IQs and caused mental disabilities, they took a very SMART action: they banned its use in paints and gasoline and spent millions cleaning it off their walls and out of the soil.

We now know that people who start using marijuana in their early teens and continue to use into adulthood lose as much as 10 points off their IQ scores by the time they reach their late 30’s. The average IQ loss for heavy users is 8 points and for moderate users 6 points.

We now know that forty-eight different studies have found that marijuana use is consistently associated with reduced grades and a reduced chance of graduating from school – and that a reduction of one point in your IQ will cause – on average – a reduction of $18,000 in annual income, with an associated and resultant loss of tax revenue for the state.

We now know that marijuana can bring on schizophrenia and worsen the symptoms in people who already suffer from mental illnesses like major depressive disorder, bi-polar disorder, anxiety disorders, and several personality disorders (anti-social, obsessive-compulsive, paranoia, and schizophrenia). Hospitalizations are longer and more frequent; disease progression is accelerated, loss of functionality occurs more quickly and onset is earlier.

Isn’t it time we got SMART about marijuana?