Oh, my. This article is going to upset the people at NORML, in Colorado and Washington, and more than a few here on TBP. The Tucson shooter, Jared Loughner, killed 6 people and injured 13 others. From his early teens, he is a known, documented heavy marijuana smoker who dropped out of high school in the 11th grade and descended into a self-made, hellish world of isolation. I’m sure he started out as a casual marijuana smoker.
Do you know a young (pre-25) male who is a casual marijuana smoker? Will he end up like Jared Loughner? Oh, my.
Casual marijuana use may come with some not-so-casual side effects.
For the first time, researchers at Northwestern University have analyzed the relationship between casual use of marijuana and brain changes – and found that young adults who used cannabis just once or twice a week showed significant abnormalities in two important brain structures.
The study’s findings, to be published Wednesday in the Journal of Neuroscience, are similar to those of past research linking chronic, long-term marijuana use with mental illness and changes in brain development.
Dr. Hans Breiter, co-senior study author, said he was inspired to look at the effects of casual marijuana use after previous work in his lab found that heavy cannabis use caused similar brain abnormalities to those seen in patients with schizophrenia.
“There were abnormalities in their working memory, which is fundamental to everything you do,” Breiter, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, told FoxNews.com. “When you make judgments or decisions, plan things, do mathematics – anything you do always involves working memory. It’s one of the core fundamental aspects of our brains that we use every day. So given those findings, we decided we need to look at casual, recreational use.”
For their most recent study, Breiter and his team analyzed a very small sample of patients between the ages of 18 and 25: 20 marijuana users and 20 well-matched control subjects. The marijuana users had a wide range of usage routines, with some using the drug just once or twice a week and others using it every single day.
Utilizing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the researchers analyzed the participants’ brains, focusing on the nucleus accumbens (NAC) and the amygdala – two key brain regions responsible for processing emotions, making decisions and motivation. They looked at these brain structures in three different ways, measuring their density, volume and shape.
According to Breiter, all three were abnormal in the casual marijuana users.
“For the NAC, all three measures were abnormal, and they were abnormal in a dose-dependent way, meaning the changes were greater with the amount of marijuana used,” Breiter said. “The amygdala had abnormalities for shape and density, and only volume correlated with use. But if you looked at all three types of measures, it showed the relationships between them were quite abnormal in the marijuana users, compared to the normal controls.”
Because these brain regions are central for motivation, the findings from Northwestern help support the well-known theory that marijuana use leads to a condition called amotivation. Also called amotivational syndrome, this psychological condition causes people to become less oriented towards their goals and purposes in life, as well as seem less focused in general.
Given these eye-opening results, Breiter said that more research is needed to look into marijuana’s effects on the brain – even in those who use the drug only once or twice a month.
“We need to see what happens longitudinally,” Breiter said. “What happens as you follow people over time? What happens if they stop using – do these bad effects continue? What happens if you can intervene early?…My worry is we haven’t studied this compound and here we are looking to change legislation on it.”
Although Breiter’s team members did not examine the patients’ cognitive symptoms, they do believe that the brain abnormalities seen in their study could lead to substantial effects on brain development and behavior, especially given the young ages of the participants. Breiter also acknowledged the problems of analyzing a very small study sample – but said that their findings should still serve as a wake-up call to others.
“This study is just a beginning pilot study, but at the same time, the results that came out are the same as a canary in a coal mine,” Breiter said. “…The interaction of marijuana with brain development could be a significant problem.”
uh, what?
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Does smoking weed turn you into a fascist? A socialist? A racist? Does it allow you to borrow trillions? Spend billions on vacations? Create 442 new taxes? Does it turn you into a bath-house homo? Ignore the law, the constitution, the bill of rights? Allow in millions of Mexicans? Get more people on food stamps? Increase welfare spending by 45%? Dumbfuck can barely put a sentence together without a teleprompter. It was the weed.
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Ah, the pro-pot defenders are rapidly coming out of the weeds with “Uh, what” and gibberish about politics.
The article was about MEDICAL RESEARCH ON CASUAL MARIJUANA SMOKING. It puts a negative scientific crack into the widespread belief, advanced by the pro-pot crowd for decades, that smoking pot is harmless (Edward Bernays would be proud).
Just an initial crack, mind you. The true believers will go batshit.
more ironclad proof of the evils of smoking trees from our resident spook SSS
even hitler wasn’t bad until he smoked weed
MEDICAL RESEARCH ON CASUAL MARIJUANA SMOKING. Put what is your opinion? Maybe Can you explain to me why our brains and bodies already have a marijuana neurotransmitter system? Smoking weed only “works” because we already have cannabinoids and their receptors in our brains and bodies. Smoking too much obviously throws off this system. Maybe you can reach a little deeper and explain the teleological reason why we already produce our own marijuana?
Endocannabinoid system
The endocannabinoid system is a group of neuromodulatory lipids and their receptors in the brain that are involved in a variety of physiological processes including appetite, pain-sensation, mood, and memory; it mediates the psychoactive effects of cannabis and, broadly speaking, includes:
The endogenous arachidonate-based lipids, anandamide (N-arachidonoylethanolamide, AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG); these are known as “endocannabinoids” and are physiological ligands for the cannabinoid receptors. Endocannabinoids are all eicosanoids.
The enzymes that synthesize and degrade the endocannabinoids, such as fatty acid amide hydrolase or monoacylglycerol lipase.
The cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2, two G protein-coupled receptors that are located in the central and peripheral nervous systems.
The endocannabinoid system has been studied using genetic and pharmacological methods. These studies have revealed that cannabinoids act as neuromodulators for a variety of physiological processes, including motor learning, synaptic plasticity, appetite, and pain sensation.
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SSS,
Marijuana may be the most studied herb (is that really what it is?) in history. Good Ahura Mazda, there must be thousands of research and epidemiological studies of various effects of cannabis that go back to the sixties. Yours however may be the most laughable. Marijuana has various effects but any stoner, past or present could tell you that being transformed into a crazed killer isn’t one of them.
You should be a comedian. Better yet, do a few bonghits and watch “Marijuana, Assassin of Youth.” I’ll pay you fifty bucks if you can do both without laughing.
Zara and AWD
You are EXACTLY the audience I want to upset. You think you know everything about marijuana and the human brain. You don’t. Nor do I. You post charts and studies about the effects of marijuana. I posted an article which challenges your wisdom.
There will be more scientific studies to come. Just like climate change, the argument about this “harmless herb” called marijuana is not over. Live with it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=0WoaO_Y-t2c
the stash
they didn’t find the hiding place in the red bronco. they were so sure that I had it quite loaded. although someone snitched, they couldn’t find anything. the boss approached, and began to question me. tell me where you’ve hidden the stash, I don’t want to hurt you. if we happen to find it, you won’t hear the end of it. they made me get off the bronco, the dogs went over it. the stash was well cured, that’s why they didn’t smell it. I slipped through their hands, they were left panting. to los Angeles I headed, they were all waiting. in an old warehouse we offloaded the cargo. then I remembered the white boys when they were paying me. I manage the crooked business, I like the thrills. I don’t fear death much less prisons. I don’t count on luck, I rely on my cojones. the bronco is gone because it was hot. I now drive a suburban which is also modified. with the hiding place they made, the dogs can’t sense a thing.
AWD
Thanks for the information, excellent post, “weed” has an amazing variety of canibanoids, years of neurosciencentific study still ahead.
SSS
Your lead off and subsequent associations are pure humor, thanks for the laughs, you consistently deliver on this topic. It’s as if you peaked professionally/intellectually concurrently with the peak in the War on Drugs. Who won that war, or who is winning? The Narcos? Fascist Element’s of the Intelligence community? BIG Banks? Private Prisons? Police State? No, No way, its the little people that have benefited from your enlightened patriarchal paternalism, and we are thankful. Please, D.A.R.E to continue the War on Drugs, you have almost won. One more big push and the rest of America will be behind bars.
If you read the teachings of Don Juan: a yaqui way of knowledge, you would know that drug use is witchcraft. Before you know it, you will be sucking dick in a public restroom for the funds to feed your depraved addiction.
When I worked I was around police frequently for a few years and then occasionally after that. The cops I knew were down on marijuana. They described it as an introductory drug that too often led to other drug use.
Pleasure islanders saw things differently. To them the police were repressive Puritans. Alcohol, marijuana, methamphetamine, cocaine, etc…. the cops were against them all. The party hardy crowd and space cadets just wanted to feel good and the police were always getting in their way.
Amotivation? Yup.
Changes in brain chemistry? Sure.
Isolationism? Maybe.
Schizophrenia? Violence and murder?
Now, hang on a second. Just because schizophrenic and violent people smoke pot doesn’t mean that the drug is the cause. But… Can it have this effect on someone? who would not otherwise act in such ways? Even in a small number of people?
I don’t know. Perhaps. I seriously doubt it. I’ll grant you that it may be a remote possibility that such a side affect would occur in a minuscule amount of people. In an infinite universe a room full of monkeys on typewriters will eventually produce Shakespeare and likewise will a room full of pot heads eventually produce a psychopath. Although I bet the timescale is a lot shorter for a fair number of drugs doctors peddle like candy to kids and their parents these days.
If you can’t sleep, you’re sure as fuck better off smoking a joint than taking Ambien. I can tell you that.
Thanks, SSS, for the heads up. I’ll keep an eye out for the full article http://www.jneurosci.org/
There is such a thing as marijuana-induced psychosis, and it’s not to be trifled with. The young are more susceptible, it appears. As for people prostituting themselves because of drugs, yes, there’s a lot of that. I think weed is generally bad for young people, but all I have to back that up is 40 years of personal observation.
I remember a study reported by playboy magazine back in the 70s. They took the brains out of a rat, mixed it in a blender with highly concentrated THC and poured it back into the rats head. They observed erratic behavior by the rat and concluded marijuana must be bad for you. On a serious note, I just found out that the statin drug I take could impair my cognitive abilities. WTF
JustSayin – gotta tell you, it is not could impair your cognitive abilities, but rather have impaired them, based on the quality of your comments.
I ain’t forgot you, asshole.
SSS – keep after them. You are winning.
Llpoh, blow me.
Ha. A couple of reasonable comments so far from Punk and Iska.
Punk remains very pro-pot, but seems to have read the article. Iska seems very supportive and will keep an eye out for future developments.
After 5 years of getting the shit hammered out of me, that’s all I wanted when I posted this article. I sense I’m gaining just a teensy-tiny bit of traction here on the issue of pot and illegal drugs in general. Teensy is the operative word.
SSS, so what’s your stance on pot? If you could make the laws, what would they be?
super sleuth, I agree with the article on pot making one stupid, but so does daily use of alcohol, prescription medicine, processed food , television, Facebook and for most men , vagina, but as far as pot turning one into a killer , that is pure bullshit.
My wife was taking a class on brain research several years back and part of an experiment was comparing scanned brains of people while watching TV , then while they were reading. In the brain scans of those watching TV , there were no synapses created between neurons.The brain was gray and inactive , but as soon as the subject started to read , the brain lit up brilliantly , synapses firing like fireworks .I wonder how many of the stoners in this article were or weren’t readers.Non-readers, and this is a majority of Americans, simply have wired their self- brains to be receptive to hedonistic crap and thus I’m sure have different brains voracious readers.
The point of this story is everything we do affect our cognitive function, even working for the government has proved to make people more violently aggressive ,demonstrably stupider and prone to acts of inhumane action against their fellow man , than those in the private sector.
Do you ever dream of assign potheads..just curious.
Anecdotal experience: two friends (I’ve known each for over 20 years) partake in weed. One is a very casual user – special occasions like parties, etc. He’s now an executive in a major company, works his ass off, is married, drives a nice car, lives in a nice house and by all accounts is “successful.” The second friend smokes multiple times a day and can be classified as an addict. He can’t fly on a 4-5 hour flight without taking a sleeping pill to get through it. I ride motorcycles with the 2nd guy and have seen over the years his reaction times deteriorate pretty much to the point where I don’t feel safe riding with him anymore. Further, he’s become quite paranoid of the government, thieves, police, etc. He had a very nice girlfriend years ago, but she left him. He lives alone with a cat and some fish in a disheveled condo. The weed (and who knows what else) has changed him mentally, no doubt. So I suspect it’s like all things – in moderation not a problem, but with extremely heavy use you’re rolling the dice… just like booze, strippers or bingo.
As for me, I’m too fucking cheap to waste money on that shit.
“SSS – keep after them. You are winning.” ——— llpoh
BWAAAHAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!!
You are either;
— a) delusional
— b) sarcastic
— c) attempting comedy
— d) having sex with SSS
“I sense I’m gaining just a teensy-tiny bit of traction here on the issue of pot and illegal drugs in general.” ——– SSS
Bwaaahahahahaha!!
You ARE delusional!
When you smell your finger and it stinks, do you sense you stuck it too far up your ass?
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For every Richard Branson there’s about 1,000 people like TC’s burnout buddy. That may not qualify as “dangerous” to some people – and it may not justify laws restricting its use – but it’s still sad and pathetic. And the point of this thread was that there’s increasing evidence that weed is bad for young people’s brains. The benign experiences of fifty year old occasional users aren’t relevant.
Osaka, I fully agree pot affects your cognitive abilities and the ability to remember what you did when you were high. Certainly not something you want kids that are in their prime learning doing. Most kids now days will never experience prime learning. We need to let these stupid people starve and not subsidize them. That being said, I don’t want the government telling me I can’t smoke pot. I believe drinking alcohol is much worse on your body and brain than pot. I just want the option without the legal ramifications. Not sure what SSS wants.
@ JustSaying
Maryland just became the 17th state to decriminalize possession of an amount of pot deemed to be for personal use, ie. moving it from a felony to misdemeanor. Just like a speeding ticket, you get a fine instead of jail. I’m ok with that.
Further, “And the point of this thread was that there’s increasing evidence that weed is bad for young people’s brains.”
—-Iska
Exactly. I’m sick of hearing and reading this endless shit that smoking weed is harmless. It isn’t, particularly for young, developing minds.
SSS
“Exactly. I’m sick of hearing and reading this endless shit that smoking weed is harmless. It isn’t, particularly for young, developing minds.”
I have no argument here, it probably has some benefit too, somehow, for someone, but how can one justify the authority to tell another he/she cant smoke some damn weed? Is it the clearly demonstrable damage to society smoking weed has caused? Really? Because to me the damage appears to be caused by authoritarian enforcement of the policy.
How about SSRI’s or all that shit they put in food now, talk about clearly demonstrable damage to society, let alone booze. It seems to me the prime directive for the illegality is to inflate price and enrich the aforementioned Narco’s,Banks, LE, and others in the shadows.
Lip service for the children, profits for the Boyz.
Consider this, most of the arguments I see leveled against you are not that drugs are harmless like you purport, but rather your solution is more harmful.
Yes they all started out as casual MJ smokers, which lead to harder drugs like Zoloft, Prozac and Lexapro. All prescribed by the pusher man in the long white coat. If it wasn’t for weed this vicious cycle would have never started.
” … descended into a self-made, hellish world of isolation.”
That’s weird, I tend to think hell is other people. What some may call isolation, I call peace and quiet. But it’s also true I am an introvert.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Vpin9VhNck
Harmful to young minds? I’ll agree with that, SSS. In comparison to not doing anything, marijuana is not very good for someone.
But compared to the majority of things that people take to fuck themselves up, marijuana is, without a doubt, probably the least harmful. Compared to many prescription drugs such as SSRIs marijuana is the least harmful.
People have been smoking pot for a lot longer than they have been taking anti depressants and the risk of going batshit crazy is simply not associated with it. I think its safe to assume that we, as a species, would have figured that out already if it did. So if you are worried about drugs turning people into violent maniacs and want to do some clinical studies, you might want to look at pharmies.
Here’s a bone for you, though. Because of you, specifically, I don’t know that I’m for total legalization. I agree that medical marijuana is a scam and a joke but it has had one positive effect. You can’t find imported Mexican weed in Maine anymore like you used to. I’m sure it can still be found, not in the amount like five years ago, though.
I just submitted a new article whereby I TOTALLY demolish SSS’s arguments.
It has the word “tits” in the title. Really. I expect 5,000+ reads.
“Compared to many prescription drugs such as SSRIs marijuana is the least harmful.”
—-Punk
“So if you are worried about drugs turning people into violent maniacs and want to do some clinical studies, you might want to look at pharmies.”
—-Punk
Concur and concur, Punk. I have been one of those most vociferous and outspoken opponents of SSRIs on this site. And I have written many detailed comments on both these mind-altering time bombs and Big Pharma.
Ask Admin. He’ll back me 100%.
The problem with pot, alcohol, prescription dope, or any drug is that when people who are fucked up get fucked up they do really fucked up shit. Some of them don’t even need drugs to do really fucked up shit. Drugs are not the problem, fucked up people are the problem.
Hat tip to SSS for being such a glutton for punishment, takes some balls.