Cannabis use and changes in brain function and structure

[markosheehan]

how badly does cannabis mess up you brain. ive seen a lot of studies lately saying how it changes gray matter volume and also changes the structure of parts of the brain high in cb1 and cb2 receptors. how consequences could these changes have?

http://jaacap.com/article/S0890-8567(10)00108-5/abstract

http://www.nature.com/npp/journal/v39/n9/abs/npp201467a.html

http://www.psychology.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/NZJP-Vol241-1995-1-Smith.pdf

http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/abs/10.1176/appi.ajp.2007.07071110

http://neuro.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/jnp.2006.18.3.318

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27930757

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27789118


alot of these studies suggest even acute use could still be damaging as there were changes noted even in acute users. ive seen some studies saying there were no changes however it seems there are a lot more studies saying there are. Non biased responses please

 

[burn out]

I think it depends a lot on the individual, that's why this topic is difficult to study. In my experience, it has a number of effects on me, such as making me more sensitive to certain things and less sensitive to other things.

 

[Yourbaker]

I took the time to go through all the links you provided, several of those studies are 10+ years old. The writeups (conclusions drawn by report author) seem opinionated when you take the time to interpret the actual data.

One report was fairly accurate and pointed to what I would call the real issues I experience from my daily weed use.

Short term memory issues. Learn to make notes and check them if you are using weed daily.

Teen use. There seems to be a greater chance of permanent or long term mental issues the earlier you begin using weed. Early use seems to be much worse vs long term use that starts during adult life.

I would say my only issues have been an increase in empathy, a perceived increase in social abilities which is hard to quantify and memory. If I spend the day making plans and don't write them down I can usually remember everything but I may have to repeat a good portion of the thought process I used to make the decision the first time. If my plans are time sensitive I might need to set an alarm as I have very little concern for what is not happening NOW. Weed has forced me to live in the moment (this has been a massive life improvement despite I miss occasional things). Weed has disabled my ability to casually lie, if I don't stick to the truth I may have no idea what lie I told, I was surprised how often I would make casual commitments to help someone move etc with little or no plan to actually help. Now I'm bluntly truthful which actually resulted in me being more helpful.

Other long term changes would be I'm almost always in a good mood and pleasant to be around. I don't appear stoned as my tolerance is well past my dose, I can still get stoned if I smoke weed as I take an oral daily dose smoking seems to be on a slightly different tolerance scale. My creativity has improved slightly, I am far more motivated to do amazing work (even personal meals are like an event now).

My family history has some dementia and a lot of cancer, my relatives rate my memory issues as the same as "before uncle X was diagnosed". I began using weed illegally while making edibles for relatives that had cancer. It has positively changed my life but there are risks and if I wasn't as fearless mentally I would have stopped using weed when I experienced a spiritual awakening. If you are considering weed as a long term medical treatment, plan to have some days of self realization. This is often the terminus of weed use for recreational users, when your self evaluation comes up lacking oddly the first positive step people often take is quit smoking weed.