However, the study conducted by the public-policy group RAND found that reading scores are unaffected by marijuana smoking.

"It makes a lot of sense that marijuana would affect certain types of cognitive functioning, particularly things that are hard to grasp, like math," said Rosalie Pacula, an economist with RAND who led the study.

Pacula analyzed 6,000 standardized test scores of students who started using marijuana after the 10th grade in 1990 and compared them with results when they were in the 12th grade.

The research showed that students who smoked marijuana had 15 percent lower scores in math than nonsmokers.

Pacula said the lower math scores could translate to a 2 percent lower salary later in life. She presented her findings at an economics conference in San Francisco last week.

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