Yes, cannabis acts upon some serotonin receptors.
That is a fact, and it does indeed increase serotonin in the brain in the short-term.
Perhaps it is simply activation of the GI that does this...
If this was true, I'd be dead from serotonin syndrome by now...
There is no evidence that cannabis has any
direct impact on serotonin.
None. Besides an article you linked to that associated pain levels decreasing in pain patients with a small amount of cannabis, and increasing the pain level with more cannabis. This is expected in psychoactives - They have a threshold and multiple plateaus of the effects. Like DXM, take a little, and you catch a buzz, take a bunch and you don't remember.
I don't see what that had to do with serotonin.
I already explained the article why people who use cannabis daily likely have lowered serotonin - I'm 100% sure if a study was done on chronic substance abusers, almost all of them probably suffered from depression prior to using. Depression is a major cause of chronic drug use. Probably the biggest trigger. Science tells us depression is often caused by serotonin deficiency. That's why statistically, 1/3 Americans are prescribed SSRI's like Paxil, Welbutrin, Zoloft, Effexor, Prozac Cymbalta etc. Just to name a few.
Long-term use of cannabis may lower serotonin levels, but this is hard to measure.
It has been shown to change the size and function of the PFC, but I cannot find the link.
Oh well, you'll just have to 'trust' me. :D
Or research it yourself...
Besides, why is it so hard to believe that YEARS of heavy smoking can lead to problems, especially when other drugs are thrown in?
Because it's a plant that's been used for getting high and many other medicinal uses for thousands of years... Similar to alcohol, we know lots about both cannabis too. It's not like MDMA and cocaine which only in recent history have they been mass-produced and chemically refined in order to get high
