In California, children as young as 14 years old can legally use marijuana. The state allows doctors to recommend medical marijuana to their patients, including those under the age of 18. Although there is no hard data on how many minors have been given the drug, anecdotal evidence reported in The New York Times suggests it does occur.

Medical marijuana is most often used to treat patients with serious, generally terminal diseases like AIDS and cancer. But in California, the law allows doctors to recommend marijuana “for any…illness for which marijuana provides relief.” Under that broad label, doctors have begun using the drug to treat all kinds of maladies and disorders, including psychiatric conditions like attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. While some doctors refuse to give marijuana to teenagers afflicted with these conditions, others say they have no problem doing so.

Doctors should be given huge leeway to advise their patients on the best course of action legally open to them. Just a few weeks ago, I praised on this page Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision not to use federal resources to prosecute medical marijuana users in states in which it is legal. In that column, I argued that the government should, whenever possible, allow doctors and patients to decide on a treatment plan without state interference.

But there are limits to that liberality. We have long recognized that children do not have the maturity and knowledge to make major life decisions for themselves, especially regarding their health. The state has a compelling interest to prohibit minors from imbibing certain substances.

We do not let children smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol; why should we let them take a mind-altering drug, especially one whose effects on developing brains and bodies have been determined to be so decidedly mixed?

In the coming years, people will continue to discuss the merits of expanding the use of medical marijuana. Some will even argue that the drug should be legalized for recreational purposes. That’s a debate we as a country should have.

But all sides should agree that certain restrictions are necessary. That marijuana should not be given to minors is one of them.

Nathaniel French is a junior theater studies major. He can be reached for comment at [email protected].