Study Claims Marijuana Reshapes Brain Of Users

designntrend.com ^ | Aug, 27, 2014, 07:10 PM | Carrie Weisman ,

[BenLurkin]

The paper will be published Wednesday, August 27, 2014 in the Journal of Neuroscience.

... researchers used an MRI machine and the brains of 40 people between the ages of 18 and 25. They claim that the more marijuana a person smokes, the more those two neural regions get "damaged."

Dr. Hans Breiter, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, co-authored the study. He says, "Anytime you find there's a relationship to the amount of marijuana consumed and you see differences of core brain regions involved in processing of rewards, the making of decisions, the ability to assess emotions, that is a serious issue."

Co-senior author of the study, Anne Blood says, "There is this general perspective out there that using marijuana recreationally is not a problem - that it is a safe drug. We are seeing that this is not the case."

The research team included experts from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School helped reach their conclusion by comparing MRI images from the brains of 20 recreational pot smokers (who smoke around 11 joints per week) and the brains of 20 non-users. All 40 people fell into a similar demographic in terms of age, education level, personality, alcohol use and general anxiety levels.

Scientist measured two different regions in the brains of the marijuana users. They looked for differences in the sizes and shapes of their nucleus accumbens, which affects pleasure and reward, and their amygdalas, which handles emotional memory and the assessment of negative consequences. These areas in marijuana users were large than in those who did not smoke.

... "When we saw that there was a consistent abnormality and that it was directly related to the amount of cannabis one took in, it gave us some significant pause.

[Chickensoup]

seeing more of this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabinoid_hyperemesis_syndrome

Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome

Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome is a disorder that is characterized by recurrent nausea, vomiting and colicky abdominal pain. These symptoms have been reported to be alleviated temporarily by taking a hot shower or bath or more permanently by abstaining from the use of cannabis. The syndrome was described by Allen and colleagues (2004), and Sontineni and colleagues (2009) who offer simplified clinical diagnostic criteria.[1][2] A subsequent, larger study reported a case series of 98 subjects with cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, confirming the earlier reported findings.

[Savage Beast]

This explains contemporary American politics: The Left is brain damaged.

[detective]

“I tried marijuana once....it made me want to rape and kill./sarc”

It makes most people just stare into space and want to eat munchies.

Though it made Maureen Dowd so paranoid she lay in her bed unable to move for over 8 hours. At least that is what she said.

[fr_freak]

First of all, you have yet to state your position on banning alcohol and I suspect it's because you know you can't defend your logically inconsistent position. Most likely, you're fine with banning pot but not alcohol because you drink but don't smoke. Instead, you ramble on about those evil potheads.

Some of us don't give a damn about whether people like to get high - we're just sick of the governmental abuses that have arisen from the drug war. Plus the fed usurping the power to tell individuals what they can ingest or grow in their backyard is anathema to the US Constitution and the concept of liberty in general.

[minnesota_bound]

Show 2 photos.
Before marijuana = conservative
After marijuana = brain dead liberal

[Pox]

And from my experience your observations are not the same as my observations.

I’ve seen a few turn into parasites, but most heavy long term users who began in their teens actually turned out to be “normal” in the end.

I suppose it really comes down to the individual and their personalities. I don’t feel that those who end up on the low end of the ladder of success do so strictly because of heavy pot smoking.

[minnesota_bound]

Yoda talks the way he does due to marijuana : )

[newnhdad]

You appear to be a person that argues just for the sake of arguing. For not caring about getting high, you seem to defend potheads a lot.

[detective]

Almost everyone smoked in the 1970s. Most turned out fine. But most didn't smoke everyday and stay high for most of the day. Those who did usually became stoners and lived an easy, laid back, no hassles lifestyle.

Think of the bus driver on the Simpsons. They were into their music, being high most of the day and avoiding anything that interfered with hanging out and being mellow.

After a few years of living like that it was all they wanted to do.

[jmacusa]

Yeah. And I only used to drink on the weekends.Trouble was my weekends always began on Monday. If you were to research the number of people doing time for armed robbery, murder, sexual assault and other felonies in studies done by the Justice Department you’d be surprised to learn at least 65% of the people who committed these crimes were under the influence of alcohol at the time.

[jmacusa]

Booze turns it into mush. Ever hear the expression ‘’wetbrain’’?

[jmacusa]

Yeah. Prohibition was a sterling success. Look what it did for Al Capone.

[jmacusa]

William F. Buckley smoked pot. He thought it should be legalized. So did George Schultz and Caspar Wienberger.

[detective]

“William F. Buckley smoked pot. He thought it should be legalized. So did George Schultz and Caspar Wienberger.”

Good for them. It probably helped them relax.

[dennisw]

You must have grown up on the moon. Idiots like you have no respect for our historic culture and religions because you think you are smarter.

You are not. You will just f___ things up worse like that choomer Obama

[Pox]

Your stereotypes are typical. I did my smoking from the 80’s forward, and although the occasional few losers would subscribe to your stereotype, most of the long term (decades) heavy smokers such as myself were able to cope with the more potent strains that came along and excelled in spite of the heavy use.

Those you describe would probably have been the same type of people regardless of their use of pot in my experience.

You may know losers like the ones you describe, but I know users who would burn through an unbelievable amount of pot on a daily basis and still were motivated, intelligent, and productive people.

Your stereotype simply fails to accurately depict the majority of heavy pot smokers I've personally known over the last 30+ years. It may accurately describe your observations, but I was very close to those I am describing and understand them very well along with what other recreational drugs they imbibed in their adulthood, and I don't know if you're as intimately familiar with the people you describe, so I can't say that our observations are comparable.

[ExpatGator]

I am fairly certain that I read that Bill Gates was a pot smoker. He does still support its legalization.

[driftless2]

He experimented with it at least once. And he favored legalization. But he and a friend drank alchohol before they tried it thus blunting the effects. There is no record of him being a habitual user.

[detective]

“I did my smoking from the 80’s forward”

How old were you when you started smoking every day? Did you start smoking in the morning and continue to get high and stay high most of the day?

[Pox]

15, yes, and yes. For over 30 years.