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NEWS: Marijuana causes brain damage, find Australian scientists

thestudent14

thestudent14

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Joined
Jan 23, 2010
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S.E Melb
POT smokers may want to think twice before lighting up their next joint.
Australian scientists have proved the long-held suspicion that persistent heavy marijuana use damages the brain's memory and learning capacity.

Researchers also showed for the first time the earlier people developed their cannabis habit, the worse the damage.

Scientists from Melbourne's Murdoch Childrens Research Institute (MCRI), Melbourne University and Wollongong University used Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to scan the brains of 59 people who had been using marijuana for 15 years on average.

The images were compared with scans of 33 healthy people who had never used the drug.

The scans measured changes to the volume, strength and integrity of white matter, the brain's complex wiring system.

Unlike grey matter, the brain's thinking areas which peak at age eight, white matter continues developing over a lifetime.

Senior researcher Dr Marc Seal of MCRI said the scans showed long-term heavy cannabis users had disruptions in their white matter fibres.

There was a reduction in the volume of white matter of more than 80 per cent in the users studied, Dr Seal said.

While the average age participants started using marijuana was 16, some began as young as 10 or 11 and were more seriously affected.

"This is the first study to demonstrate the age at which regular cannabis use begins is a key factor in determining the severity of the brain damage," Dr Seal told AAP.

Cannabis interferes with naturally occurring cannabinoid receptors in the brain.

"If you're a teenager and you've got all these natural cannabinoids in your white matter, it's not good to be introducing a lot of external cannabinoids in your system, because it stops the white matter maturing," Dr Seal said.

The significant differences in long-term heavy cannabis users' white matter was linked to poor memory and learning.

"We don't know if the changes are irreversible but we do know that these changes are quite significant," Dr Seal said.

"These differences are linked to memory impairment and concentration.

"These people can have trouble learning new things and they are going to have trouble remembering things," he said.

The results could not be explained by other recreational drug use and alcohol.

Dr Seal said the participants would be followed up in the next two years to track any further changes.

The results added to previous evidence showing the hippocampus, the area of the brain involved in memory, shrunk in heavy users.

Previous studies investigating white matter among cannabis users had substantially smaller numbers of participants.
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http://www.news.com.au/news/marijuana-causes-brain-damage-study/story-fnejlrpu-1226446937592


Too late to talk about this thread right now, read it today and was suprised it wasn't in AusDD yet.
I will say this though, using kids as young as 10 and 11 for the study doesn't suprise me that they have caused damage. It's really an argument for regulation over keeping the substance illegal in that sense.
 
Thanks for posting that TS14. More cannon fodder for my Mother!

I have been using heavily for 18 years and I don't feel any worse for it. That being said I do play Ice Hockey :)
 
Verybuffed said:
Thanks for posting that TS14. More cannon fodder for my Mother!

I have been using heavily for 18 years and I don't feel any worse for it. That being said I do play Ice Hockey :)
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^LOL^

Seriously, using my experience as anecdotal evidence would suggest otherwise. My memory is no worse than that of people I know who don't smoke regularly or have never smoked. This shit just pisses me off. During my undergraduate and honours studies I was always the top student in the class, and I'm in a similar position in my postgraduate studies.

Where's my study? Why not study successful (in the eyes of society) smokers? If I've somehow caused myself brain damage, you would think that I'd be a complete failure. I also question the bullshit about "long-term effects of cannabis use". According to what I've read, I should have turned into a manic-paranoid-schizophrenic mess around five years ago now.

I hate reading articles like this - why not repeat the study and do a comparison between heavy cannabis users and severe alcoholics? Now that would be more enlightening. But no....

My point is Australia wants to constantly demonise pot and pot users. It's freaking absurd.
 
i know if im smoking heavily ill have trouble answering the question "what did you do today" just because I think my memory wasnt all that hot to begin with

but if it is reversible (which ive found) by stopping smoking for a month, this study isnt very original
 
My short and long term memory us better than most people I know. Maybe that is just a stoner thing though, you never forget someone who has screwed you.
 
yagecero said:
Where's my study? Why not study successful (in the eyes of society) smokers? If I've somehow caused myself brain damage, you would think that I'd be a complete failure. I also question the bullshit about "long-term effects of cannabis use". According to what I've read, I should have turned into a manic-paranoid-schizophrenic mess around five years ago now.

I hate reading articles like this - why not repeat the study and do a comparison between heavy cannabis users and severe alcoholics? Now that would be more enlightening. But no....

My point is Australia wants to constantly demonise pot and pot users. It's freaking absurd.
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I actually welcome this sort of study - a study employing proper scientific process to make claims with at least some credibility. Although it may be used to demonise cannbis use/users, I don't think the study itself is problematic, and I support anything that can further our knowledge of drugs and their effects on the brain. Any study which increases knowledge is important for HR.

The finding that long term cannabis use apparently causes changes in the brain is important. I think researchers should be cautious to link this to poor memory and learning problems though. Certain bran areas are linked to memory and learning - and I think linked is the operative word here. Changes in these structures wont necessarily translate into deficits in functioning. Not only is the brain incredibly complex, with behaviours often not directly linked to one area, the brain is incredibly plastic, and is very effective at overcoming damage in one area by using other pathways.
 
yagecero said:
^LOL^

Seriously, using my experience as anecdotal evidence would suggest otherwise. My memory is no worse than that of people I know who don't smoke regularly or have never smoked. This shit just pisses me off. During my undergraduate and honours studies I was always the top student in the class, and I'm in a similar position in my postgraduate studies.

Where's my study? Why not study successful (in the eyes of society) smokers? If I've somehow caused myself brain damage, you would think that I'd be a complete failure. I also question the bullshit about "long-term effects of cannabis use". According to what I've read, I should have turned into a manic-paranoid-schizophrenic mess around five years ago now.

I hate reading articles like this - why not repeat the study and do a comparison between heavy cannabis users and severe alcoholics? Now that would be more enlightening. But no....

My point is Australia wants to constantly demonise pot and pot users. It's freaking absurd.
Click to expand...

I sympathize with you and believe anybody should be free to use whatever drug they feel like using. However, I do feel most people have memory and concentration problems that use cannabis. You are lucky mate!!!
 
footscrazy said:
I actually welcome this sort of study - a study employing proper scientific process to make claims with at least some credibility. Although it may be used to demonise cannbis use/users, I don't think the study itself is problematic, and I support anything that can further our knowledge of drugs and their effects on the brain. Any study which increases knowledge is important for HR.

The finding that long term cannabis use apparently causes changes in the brain is important. I think researchers should be cautious to link this to poor memory and learning problems though. Certain bran areas are linked to memory and learning - and I think linked is the operative word here. Changes in these structures wont necessarily translate into deficits in functioning. Not only is the brain incredibly complex, with behaviours often not directly linked to one area, the brain is incredibly plastic, and is very effective at overcoming damage in one area by using other pathways.
Click to expand...

Fair point footscrazy - I was torn between belittling a study that will be used to demonise pot by your regular Ma and Pa, and reiterating the student's point about this being a stronger argument for regulation. I would have added that to the bottom of my post but it would have been in contradiction to the rest of what I wrote.

This study could be used in a manner to support HR (young people definitely shouldn't smoke pot) and in favour of regulation, but I doubt that will be the view among the general public.
 
The main things that jump out at me are:
The young age at which the respondents started smoking marijuana. Were there any participants who started smoking later who had fully developed brains?
Did the smokers take other drugs over that 15 years? My guess would be probably. If so what drugs and how frequently?
People who don't smoke marijuana probably don't use other drugs.
 
Yeah, cannabis definitely had an effect on my cognitive function. I smoked daily since I was 13 until about 20, then I quit for the last 5 years, until about 6 weeks ago and I started smoking again. Got some shit going on, so whatever. Don't really like the effects of marijuana, makes me anxious and isolated, but still I smoke. My partner hates the shit, she smoked everyday heavily for like 8 years. If she smokes now, she just can't wait for it to end - is how she puts it. Just anxiety, paranoia. I hear this is common, or relatively, with cannabis abusers who go back to marijuana after quitting.. My cousin had psychosis from just cannabis, was driving down the wrong side of the road trying to launch his time machine when the cops pulled him over with his lights off.

Regardless, it definitely fucks with your brain. Plant or no.

Ash. <3
 
Thanks for posting. Thumbs up for information! (assuming it's not flawed :P)

My memory has suffered due to my cannabis use, but main effect was laziness, which was an acute thing.


It's time to get realistic about smoking weed - yeah, it's very safe compared to almost any drug in a sense - that doesn't mean it's like vitamins. I remember a study a few years ago linking THC or some active in cannabis to shrinkage of cancer or something....some of my stoner mates instantly started believing smoking it reduces their chance of developing cancer :\

Some people heavily into weed smoking and culture are just as biased towards it as reefer madness and the like are against it. I guess it's become almost a political type thing (or is a political type thing?)
 
pffft - you can only learn so much from playstation... what were they expecting?
 
pisspotnrock said:
This..

I'm living proof that this study is sorta accurate..

My memory's fucked... Been smokin daily since 13/14, currently 20...
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That's interesting. Not that your memory's screwed, but that you've been smoking daily since 13/14 for 6 odd years. I started smoking around the same time, but nowhere near daily. I probably, on average, only smoked a couple of times a month until I was 16/17, when I first started smoking daily - I'm 30 now (kinda old by bluelight standards).

There was a period where my memory was totally fucked, and I suppose I was a paranoid mess during this time, too. But I think, for me at least, this had more to do with the amount of MDMA, amphetamine and K that I used weekly between 1999 and 2003. Pot is the only thing that I never stopped using, and after a couple of years of being fried and basically weirded out by life, I came good.

I only smoke regularly (drink semi-regularly, also benzos or opiates, rarely) and trip occasionally these days, and I think I've got the balance down pretty well. There were times during those few years that were difficult that I thought I should stop smoking because everyone kept telling me that it could only make things worse, but I couldn't leave Mary-Jane.

I suppose, (again) for me, weed was the only thing that was a constant the whole time, and I went from healthy, to ill (mentally, with cognitive impairment), and back to healthy again, smoking all the time.

Christ! said:
My memory has suffered due to my cannabis use, but main effect was laziness, which was an acute thing.
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The lack of motivation is a factor, but it's something that I've become used to. Forcing myself to work when I can't be arsed is the story of my life. lol. Although, having said that, I do know some really lazy people who have never touched weed.

Isn't being lazy part of the Australian culture? ;)
 
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Any and all issues related to cognition and memory related to THC use can easily be countered by using cbd rich strains of cannabis.. yes it is that simple. cannabidiol mediates the effects of thc and most people with memory issues that linger simply have overactive anandamide production. cbd can help with that too. none of these so-called brain damage scare tactic reports are ever referring to permanent impairment but they like to say "we don't know for sure if it might be permanent or not" as sort of a disclaimer for the propagandizing.
 
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all we can hope is rupert will die soon...fucking old scrooge

^^ il second, i too believe MDMA is seriously unhealthy for memory it was for me anyway, I'm now on a self imposed break from my beloved md.

for me with ganja if I'm smoking too much i can smell it under my arms and coming from my pores (il admit to being a bit of a hippy but i do shower daily :)) when i can smell it emitting from me like that my memory and cognition isn't what it should be...it takes me between 3 weeks and a month with out smoking to clean that out of my system, when i no longer sweat the smell of ganja my brain / cognition / memory bounces back to how it should be...the fog lifts

ps if you blow out a lung (pneurothorax) you are probably smoking too much...i learnt that the hard way :(
 
I was gonna reply but I forgot what the thread was about.



I do too many other drugs to comment on whether weed has effected me so much but it's always good to have an excuse when you do something dumb.
 
laugh said:
when i no longer sweat the smell of ganja my brain / cognition / memory bounces back to how it should be...the fog lifts
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I saw a documentary that they said ALL cognitive and memory skills seem to be completely back to normaly after 6 months.

Having said that, I have no doubt that smoking can cause long term affects. My uncle, whilst he is still extremeley intelligent and have a good memory but his cognition is slow. It takes him longer to respond and often really slurrs his words like a drunk person (and he has been sober for a long time). I doubt he will ever get ALL cognitive ability back, as he has not smoked weed in over 5 years.
 
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