Marijuana Re-shapes the Brain

[Jemima]

And not for the better.

 

"Two neural regions key to emotions and motivation become misshapen or abnormally large after repeated pot smoking, scientists reported Tuesday. They call their study the first “to show casual use of marijuana is related to major brain changes.”

 

"No need for that iconic, anti-drug image from the '80s -– a piping-hot pan and a frying egg –- to make the latest visual point. To bolster this claim, researchers used an MRI machine and the brains of 40 live people. They assert that the more joints a person smokes, the more those two neural hubs get “damaged.”

 

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/legal-pot/marijuana-re-shapes-brains-users-study-claims-n81126

[Skyler]

And marijuana does really bad stuff to short term memory. The pro-marijuana praises being sung by the press right now are a matter of great concern. At least it should be possible to conduct studies as to how it works now, something that was not when it was illegal.

 

"Cannabis use is associated with impairments of cognitive

functions, including learning and memory, attention, and

decision-making."

 

The damage is permanent, the short term memory loss can be devastating.

 

Thanks for the post Jemima.

[Altostrata]

This is another one of those brain scan studies. Who knows what the findings mean? Maybe the brain regions changed because they were immensely entertained.

[Rhiannon]

I'm afraid I fall in the "skeptical about science claims in popular media" camp. Actually, pretty skeptical about a lot of what passes for "science" these days. This study, for example, was done on 20 people. Not much of a sample size.

 

As far as cannabis is concerned, hardly anyone doesn't have an agenda one way or another, so I'm inclined to question pretty much everything I hear or read, particularly in the media, whether it's pro or anti.

[btdt]

I am the same 

just can't buy in the cost it too high

for every article in science I can find one that will say the opposite

if there is any money involved.. 

skeptic all the way

[Rhiannon]

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Neurology/GeneralNeurology/45290

 

This is pretty much my thinking about this story.

[Skyler]

I understand how you guys can distrust the media.. But someone I knew very well had disabling short term memory loss because of marijuana. This person who started smoking marijuana at 14, had a comprehensive neuro psych evaluation (and a full battery of other appropriate tests), and no other risk factors could be isolated. The degree of loss was awesomely scarey, and I would not mess with the stuff. For example, the only way this otherwise intelligent person could prepare a meal was by leaving all the kitchen cabinets open so he could see where things were. His life was so severely impacted he was unable to work. Very bad. And I keep reading all these articles about the seeming nirvana we will enter once we all have access to weed.

 

Unfortunately there is not a whole lot of research because it was illegal and there were obvious related issues in conducting scientific studies.. but the cautionary narratives such as mine are getting buried under the media rush to extol the virtues. My understanding, from talking with substance abuse counselors, is teens are especially vulnerable to memory loss, and adults at any age can have some long lasting impairment.

 

And yes, if I was having nausea because of chemo, I'd have no qualms about using.

[alexjuice]

I can't advise smoking anything. Smoke is toxic and I'd bet most marijuana is full of metals and horrific pesticides.

 

If a sick person wants to smoke marijuana to feel better I am not opposed for that reason but it violates basic health priniciples to think deeply inhaling smoke is good for a person.

[btdt]

I can't advise smoking anything. Smoke is toxic and I'd bet most marijuana is full of metals and horrific pesticides.

 

If a sick person wants to smoke marijuana to feel better I am not opposed for that reason but it violates basic health priniciples to think deeply inhaling smoke is good for a person.

I wish they would study it and clean it up so the ill did not have to take it in ways that otherwise cause them damage

[Altostrata]

Thanks, Rhi. FYI, the headline is Striking a Nerve: Bungling the Cannabis Story

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Neurology/GeneralNeurology/45290

 

This is pretty much my thinking about this story.

There are vaporizers to cut down inhaling the smoke, which can be irritating to the lungs.

[btdt]

I have heard they have a pill made from some part of the pot plant to help people who have cancer have an appetite... if they can make one pill like this they could make others and stop the breathing idea completely 

Seems to me it was a country with an S Sweden or Switzerland mayabe. 

[UnfoldingSky]

I have heard they have a pill made from some part of the pot plant to help people who have cancer have an appetite... if they can make one pill like this they could make others and stop the breathing idea completely 

 

 

 

That's true, a friend of mine was given it in hospital in Canada, for cancer.  I don't think they want that widely known though, for obvious reasons...too much raiding of the medical closet would ensue, lol.

[btdt]

It was a person I know here in Canada who has cancer who was trying to get the drug from the other country that told me about it.  I have not heard they were successful. From what I heard there are not other effects it just helps the appetite. 

Sometimes I think we are years behind in human research because the normal research has been perverted by the stupidity of man... stupidity and other issue we all know too well... which in the big picture comes right back to stupidity. 

[SouthernFreeze]

I understand how you guys can distrust the media.. But someone I knew very well had disabling short term memory loss because of marijuana. This person who started smoking marijuana at 14, had a comprehensive neuro psych evaluation (and a full battery of other appropriate tests), and no other risk factors could be isolated. The degree of loss was awesomely scarey, and I would not mess with the stuff. For example, the only way this otherwise intelligent person could prepare a meal was by leaving all the kitchen cabinets open so he could see where things were. His life was so severely impacted he was unable to work. Very bad. And I keep reading all these articles about the seeming nirvana we will enter once we all have access to weed.

 

Unfortunately there is not a whole lot of research because it was illegal and there were obvious related issues in conducting scientific studies.. but the cautionary narratives such as mine are getting buried under the media rush to extol the virtues. My understanding, from talking with substance abuse counselors, is teens are especially vulnerable to memory loss, and adults at any age can have some long lasting impairment.

 

And yes, if I was having nausea because of chemo, I'd have no qualms about using.

I a'm sorry to hear about your friends bad experience, i'm pretty sure  no one in the media recommends smoking from the age 14. Also i'm not sure what the media is like where you are but i rarely read any articles like that in the recreational side of things,only the medical which doesn't actually use enough of the ingredient THC to get you high.. if any at all i don't think

I myself was smoking from the age of 14 with a group and as far as i know we have all stopped and found it wasn't good during school. But i also know of a bunch of people who started later in life (i mean once or twice a week, not abusing it) and react very well to it....much better than alcohol. They all hold good jobs, have children and function well in society.

 

To me it seems to agree with a lot of people who start later in life, but i'm not going to go around saying this as a fact judging by my few experiences, just like i won't go around scare mongering people about it because i know people who had bad reactions to it in school. As you say there is not enough research to make any bold assumptions.

 

Also i have seen much bigger tests and articles to contradict that first post, but then there's probably another one  that goes against that.....who knows, but from my personal experience i find it hard to believe there to be any "permanent" damage (and i smoked A LOT) . If any drug has noticeably done any permanent damage, it is these prescription drugs  

[SouthernFreeze]

 

I can't advise smoking anything. Smoke is toxic and I'd bet most marijuana is full of metals and horrific pesticides.

 

If a sick person wants to smoke marijuana to feel better I am not opposed for that reason but it violates basic health priniciples to think deeply inhaling smoke is good for a person.

I wish they would study it and clean it up so the ill did not have to take it in ways that otherwise cause them damage

 

there are lots of ways of taking it without smoking, in food, simmered with coconut oil and put in capsules, a friend of mine has a tincture jar full with weed oil so you just put a few drops under the tongue, Also vaporizers like alto said.

 

I just wish there were more forms of methods available without the thc so we can just get the medicinal treatment without having to get high....there is someone on this site lucky enough to have that option i think, cbd patches or something

[btdt]

I am simply not a believer.  I don't think pot is a good drug for the treatment of psych issues or treatment of psych drug induced issues either.  It has nothing to do with it being legal or illegal it has everything to do with adding another drug to treat a drug reaction when we don't understand the damage caused and or if the long term implications of using yet another drug with unknown consequences.  Sure I am not against it for those children who intractable seizures or a person who is dying anyway but other than that... more study.  Since the study has been delayed due to it being illegal all these years I am sure the truth of it all will not hit mainstream till long after I am dead.  

 

I can't help being the way I am after all I have lived already with the fallout of drugs and the affect it has had on my life and the lives of those who love me.  The risk is just way too high and the unknown possible fallout too great a risk IMHO for those who are not in serious need already from diseases that cause life to be unlivable. Yes I have to admit withdrawal has caused my life to be unlivable much of the last 7 years ... before that time I spent 18 years trying to treat the fallout of one antidepressant that kept me trapped for 18 years of further drug treatment.  I think we know enough now to say that further drug treatment does not help withdrawal from antidepressants if anything it slows the healing and often throws a wrench into the system causing further delay in potential healing.  I would hate to see this happen to people bad enough it keeps happening with further Ad use after one has caused damage.... to add more drugs to the list of potentials is IMO not a good idea. 

peace

[SouthernFreeze]

Fair enough, and yeah i wouldn't recommend pot for withdrawal at all either....lets face it though, people are always looking for a easier way through these horrible withdrawals, especially natural remedies.

 

On the other hand though i have been using cannabis seed protein powder to help me get back to sleep at 4 in the morning, so far it has worked twice! but still in trial. Of cause it doesn't have the psychoactive ingredients of weed but is full with omega 3 6 and 9, magnesium and has amino acids like glycine which are suppose to help you sleep according to what i have learned on here

[btdt]

I am done with supplements too. just done..

[Harriet8]

On 6/21/2014 at 8:01 AM, SouthernFreeze said:

there are lots of ways of taking it without smoking, in food, simmered with coconut oil and put in capsules, a friend of mine has a tincture jar full with weed oil so you just put a few drops under the tongue, Also vaporizers like alto said.

 

I just wish there were more forms of methods available without the thc so we can just get the medicinal treatment without having to get high....there is someone on this site lucky enough to have that option i think, cbd patches or something

Hi

I am being proposed medicinal cannabis without the thc, in the form of the flowers.  Can be vaped or made into a tea.  Best, I'm told, is to make a milk, as the fats help absorption?  But I am extremely wary.  There have been so few clinical trials.  The doctor suggesting it is also excited about Esketamine and the possibility of using that in future (no thank you).  He is suggesting I use the cannabis to help stabilise my system and support me in withdrawing from my meds.  But I notice he is also part of a pilot scheme.  There is also huge money to be made. 

 

I feel vulnerable and wary.  I have been traumatised by polypharmacy.  Does anyone here have experience of using medical cannabis?  My instinct is that it would make withdrawal even more complex.  

 

Thanks,

 

Harriet8

[Miyan]

Hello Guys,

I'm off Escitalopram about 5 months now.

I smoked brick weed last Sunday night about 8o clock here.

I thought it would help with pain and anhedonia.

When I smoked I got paranoid and shaky legs.

And I came to my home the next day monday morning (I was in Friend house where I smoked weed) on that and other day I didn't feel anything.

Yesterday I had bath and did breathing exercise then went to my job I had panic attack like symptoms heart palpitations started got paranoid(like when I smoked) from that time I feels anxious till now guys.

When anyone shout I feel anxious and also I gets memory impairment, brain fog and anger. Help me guys I don't what to do. I know it will pass when is my question.

I don't have any physical symptoms.

My symptoms goes like anxious and normal.

Social Anxiety also guys when it will resolve guys.

 

 

[Vasherr]

Medical or not THC or no THC it is still a psychotropic substance, maybe not pharma produced but is dependency forming and can incur same difficulties as any other psych substance.

[SouthernFreeze]

2 hours ago, Vasherr said:

Medical or not THC or no THC it is still a psychotropic substance, maybe not pharma produced but is dependency forming and can incur same difficulties as any other psych substance.

You can't compare CBD to psychiatric medicines prescribed. I've never seen or heard of evidence of CBD having the same problems of prescribed drugs. 

 

[Vasherr]

I have a friend who never used any psychs before CBD, and after cesssation she had daily panic attacks which landed her on psych drugs.

 

Now You have heard.

[SouthernFreeze]

11 hours ago, Vasherr said:

I have a friend who never used any psychs before CBD, and after cesssation she had daily panic attacks which landed her on psych drugs.

 

Now You have heard.

You can't make claims off one persons experience.

[Vasherr]

I can and I will, it is for anyone that reads this to decide if they want to believe it or not.

 

One would think that on the forum for people damaged by psychotropics no psychotropic would be promoted, but whatever man think what You want I am not interested in converting CBD koolaid drinkers.

 

I am not arguing that the strenght is the same as psych medication because it isn't but still, dependency is dependency and I doubt that anyone here wants to trade one addiction for another.

 

 

[SouthernFreeze]

24 minutes ago, Vasherr said:

I can and I will, it is for anyone that reads this to decide if they want to believe it or not.

 

One would think that on the forum for people damaged by psychotropics no psychotropic would be promoted, but whatever man think what You want I am not interested in converting CBD koolaid drinkers.

 

I am not arguing that the strenght is the same as psych medication because it isn't but still, dependency is dependency and I doubt that anyone here wants to trade one addiction for another.

 

 

Im not promoting it, your right it is up to the individual to make their decision. It helps me when I lower my dose but I don't come on here saying it's a miracle drug, because there hasn't been enough research.

 

If we made judgements on one person's bad reaction there would be no covid vaccine.