Mary Jane and the Brain are making the news again.
According to an Australian study, people who heavily smoke marijuana for a long period of time are not only putting themselves at risk for the onset of psychosis and schizophrenia-like symptoms and lung cancer, but they’re also putting two important parts of their brains at risk for shrinkage.
The hippocampus, which regulates memory and emotion, and the amygdala, which plays a role in fear and aggression, were both smaller in the men who smoked “at least five marijuana cigarettes daily for on average 20 years.”
These men also earned lower scores during verbal learning tasks than their non-pot-smoking counterparts, as well as exhibited “mild signs of psychotic disorders, but not enough to be formally diagnosed with any such disorder.”
According to Murat Yucel of ORYGEN Research Centre and the University of Melbourne, who led the study that was published in the American Medical Association’s journal Archives of General Psychiatry,
“These findings challenge the widespread perception of cannabis as having limited or no harmful effects on (the) brain and behavior [...] Like with most things, some people will experience greater problems associated with cannabis use than others [...] Our findings suggest that everyone is vulnerable to potential changes in the brain, some memory problems and psychiatric symptoms if they use heavily enough and for long enough.”
At the same time, the researchers admitted that the study didn’t actually prove marijuana was the cause of the smaller brain parts.
Hmm. The study seems a bit incomplete, then – to me, anyway.
For those of you who like to spark up every now and then, you probably don’t have to worry about losing brain size – Bruce Mirken, the Marijuana Policy Project spokesman, noted,
“These were people who were essentially stoned all day every day for 20 years [...] This study says nothing about moderate or occasional users, who are the vast majority – and the (study) even acknowledges this [...] The documented damage caused by comparably heavy use of alcohol or tobacco is just off-the-charts more serious, and you don’t need high-tech scans to find it.”
Currently, I’m just wondering one thing: What was going through the minds of these participants when they were approached – and agreed – to smoke at least five joints a day for the next 20 years.
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@ Jon E Why – It really didn’t do too much damage to you except all that?! You know, you’re not the first person I’ve heard/read comment on marijuana and bipolar disorder. I wonder if there are any studies out there regarding it…
On a lighter note, don’t feel bad about the chocolate. I expect chocolate addiction can’t be avoided. I’ve been eating it like Biblical manna for years, haha.
I smoked pot for a long time and in large quantities for around 22 years. It really didn’t do too much damage to me asides from panic attacks, white hot anxiety flashes, nightmares under the influence of insomnia, visits from the BADMAN, uncontrollable giggling even when sitting home alone, sitting home alone, lose of memory…especially short term memory, uncontrollable giggling, bipolar mood disorder and an uncanny need to eat chocolate as if were a Biblical manna of sorts.
The thing is…I haven’t smoked pot in over 6 years and still deal with these ailments and life disorders.