Regular pot smokers have shrunken brains, study says

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schuylaar

Well-Known Member
sheskunk said:
Told you so.

Experimental mice have been telling us this for years, but pot-smoking humans didn't want to believe it could happen to them: Compared with a person who never smoked marijuana, someone who uses marijuana regularly has, on average, less gray matter in his orbital frontal cortex, a region that is a key node in the brain's reward, motivation, decision-making and addictive behaviors network.

More ambiguously, in regular pot smokers, that region is better connected than it is in non-users: the flow of signal traffic is speedier to other parts of that motivation and decision-making network, including across the superhighway of "white matter" that connects the brain's hemispheres.

The researchers who conducted the study speculate that the orbital frontal cortex's greater level of "connectedness"--which is especially pronounced in people who started smoking pot early in life--may be the brain's way of compensating for the region's under-performing gray matter. Whether these "complex neuroadaptive processes" reverse themselves when marijuana use stops is an important unanswered question, they added.

The new findings, reported Monday in the journal PNAS, confirm findings about chronic marijuana use from rodents. But scientific evidence in humans has been more mixed.

Even now, however, the authors of the study acknowledge that they cannot discern whether a pot smoker's smaller orbital frontal cortex is the cause or the result of chronic marijuana use. A 2012 study found that subjects with a smaller orbital frontal cortex at age 12 were more likely to start using marijuana by age 16, suggesting that deficits in this crucial region may predispose one to substance-abuse behaviors.

This study, conducted by researchers from the University of Texas' Center for Brain Health and the Albuquerque-based Mind Research Network, did not follow subjects over time, so it is at a disadvantage in showing cause and effect. Instead, it compared 48 "chronic" marijuana users (at least four times a week over the past six months) with 62 non-using control subjects who were matched for age and gender with the using group. Subjects were an average age of 28 to 30 years old.

Researchers noted that the IQ of the marijuana-using group was significantly lower than that of the non-using group--not a finding of the study, but an incidental factor that might be indirectly linked to marijuana use.
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:sleep: citation? and it better not include words like "fox" or "the blaze".
 
S

schuylaar

Well-Known Member
sheskunk said:
Told you so.

Experimental mice have been telling us this for years, but pot-smoking humans didn't want to believe it could happen to them: Compared with a person who never smoked marijuana, someone who uses marijuana regularly has, on average, less gray matter in his orbital frontal cortex, a region that is a key node in the brain's reward, motivation, decision-making and addictive behaviors network.

More ambiguously, in regular pot smokers, that region is better connected than it is in non-users: the flow of signal traffic is speedier to other parts of that motivation and decision-making network, including across the superhighway of "white matter" that connects the brain's hemispheres.

The researchers who conducted the study speculate that the orbital frontal cortex's greater level of "connectedness"--which is especially pronounced in people who started smoking pot early in life--may be the brain's way of compensating for the region's under-performing gray matter. Whether these "complex neuroadaptive processes" reverse themselves when marijuana use stops is an important unanswered question, they added.

The new findings, reported Monday in the journal PNAS, confirm findings about chronic marijuana use from rodents. But scientific evidence in humans has been more mixed.

Even now, however, the authors of the study acknowledge that they cannot discern whether a pot smoker's smaller orbital frontal cortex is the cause or the result of chronic marijuana use. A 2012 study found that subjects with a smaller orbital frontal cortex at age 12 were more likely to start using marijuana by age 16, suggesting that deficits in this crucial region may predispose one to substance-abuse behaviors.

This study, conducted by researchers from the University of Texas' Center for Brain Health and the Albuquerque-based Mind Research Network, did not follow subjects over time, so it is at a disadvantage in showing cause and effect. Instead, it compared 48 "chronic" marijuana users (at least four times a week over the past six months) with 62 non-using control subjects who were matched for age and gender with the using group. Subjects were an average age of 28 to 30 years old.

Researchers noted that the IQ of the marijuana-using group was significantly lower than that of the non-using group--not a finding of the study, but an incidental factor that might be indirectly linked to marijuana use.
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last i checked..this is a g-r-o-w-e-r-s website.

leave if you don't like it..you're a buzzkill.
 
kelly4

kelly4

Well-Known Member
sheskunk said:
Did you know driving under the influence of marijuana is illegal? Do you know why it is illegal? Because it impairs your abilities to drive safely. There were 4 of them in that particular accident. They all died. The stoned driver in the other car walked away without a scratch. They were all my friends, and they all died.

Now comes the part where everyone jumps in and says "I drive better when I'm stoned". Tell that to my dead friends.

Two of my friends were walking home late one night after scoring an ounce. They got mugged but refused to give up their "sack". They were both shot dead on the street. If it weren't for the weed they'd still be here today. Killed over a bag of weed.

There are consequences to every action. Just because you can't OD on pot doesn't mean it's harmless. You all are so quick to call me the ignorant one when most of you can't even have an honest discussion on the subject.
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So, the driver who was stoned lived? Everyone else died? Sounds to me like weed saved his life.
 
sheskunk

sheskunk

Well-Known Member
schuylaar said:
:sleep: citation? and it better not include words like "fox" or "the blaze".
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Did you know you could copy and paste that whole post into Google and it will take you right to where it came from. Now that you know that you will never again have to look stupid asking for citation. Thank me.
 
dandyrandy

dandyrandy

Well-Known Member
Damn. I could have been smarter? I guess 40 years in the aerospace industry as an EE was a fluke. I better tell some I work with. They are younger. Oh well. Where was that joint?
 
sheskunk

sheskunk

Well-Known Member
Keep denying the truth ...

canabis hypermesis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabinoid_hyperemesis_syndrome

Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome is a disorder that is characterized by recurrent nausea, vomiting and colicky abdominal pain. These symptoms have been reported to be alleviated temporarily by taking a hot shower or bath or more permanently by abstaining from the use of cannabis. The syndrome was described by Allen and colleagues (2004), and Sontineni and colleagues (2009) who offer simplified clinical diagnostic criteria.[1][2] A subsequent, larger study reported a case series of 98 subjects with cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, confirming the earlier reported findings.[3]


And just in case you want more sources ...

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22150623
http://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-6196(11)00026-7/fulltext
http://www.currentpsychiatry.com/home/article/cannabinoid-hyperemesis-syndrome-a-result-of-chronic-heavy-cannabis-use/7f745b490668efc93ec5bab9da3bfdc1.html
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/749937


I'm not as dumb as I pretend to be. Are you?
 
OGEvilgenius

OGEvilgenius

Well-Known Member
kelly4 said:
So, the driver who was stoned lived? Everyone else died? Sounds to me like weed saved his life.
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There is evidence to support this actually. I saw a study recently indicating the neuroprotective qualities of cannabis can increase your chances of surviving brain trauma. Apparently those who test positive for cannabis tend to have higher survival rates after this type of trauma.
 
OGEvilgenius

OGEvilgenius

Well-Known Member
sheskunk said:
I'm here to save you. I can't leave until my job is done. As long as dope keeps killing people I will be here warning others of the danger.
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Your friends who were robbed and shot? They were killed by the person who killed them and the laws which make a plant that should cost next to nothing cost insane prices. Not smart decision making on their own part too.

And you're completely certain it was cannabis that caused that fatal accident eh? No other factors? Perhaps a copy of accident/police report could clear some of this up. You seem incredibly emotional and rarely when someone is in this state of mind do they think clearly. Was it even the person who was high's fault the accident occurred? Because there's literally almost no evidence to support that cannabis dramatically impairs driving ability unless people get to the point where they can barely stay awake, and people in that state do not drive typically while on cannabis. There are studies to support this. Traffic fatalities and accident rates have gone down in places where legalization and medical use has been allowed.

More over the potential medical treatments this plant offers (for conditions without good treatments in particular), and materials, and an incredible source of energy and food as well... you can make a strong argument that if God (if yoiu believe in that kind of thing) intended to make plants to help us, this was the one he by far and away spent the most energy on.

I know more than one doctors who feels understanding the cannabinoid system and cannabis are going to be vital to major breakthroughs and new treatments for stuff previously untreatable.
 
OGEvilgenius

OGEvilgenius

Well-Known Member
sheskunk said:
As marijuana becomes more accepted, and legal, more test will be done. Up to this point not much research has been done on it, comparatively speaking. As more tests are done more will be learned. Prepare yourselves for the results. We have no idea where this is heading.

I saw a program a while back on how marijuana was stopping seizures in young children. It was amazing and heartbreaking. I do feel there is a lot to be learned and most of it will be positive. But I also believe nothing is perfect.
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There's been more research into the toxic effects of marijuana than there has been just about any other chemical that exists on the planet. Just FYI.
 
sheskunk

sheskunk

Well-Known Member
OGEvilgenius said:
There is evidence to support this actually. I saw a study recently indicating the neuroprotective qualities of cannabis can increase your chances of surviving brain trauma. Apparently those who test positive for cannabis tend to have higher survival rates after this type of trauma.
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Never mind the 4 people in the other car that he just killed.

If he was never high in the first place there would be no need to increase the chances of survival.

They say the same thing about drunk drivers who kill people. Maybe we should all just get wasted before we drive.
 
OGEvilgenius

OGEvilgenius

Well-Known Member
ricky6991 said:
Sheskunk- i hate to say it but your friends who got.mugged and shot would have still gotten mugged and shot without the weed. assholes walking around with a gun would have shot them for cash they used to buy the weed wayyyy before shooting them for the weed. To speculate furher and say well they wouldnt have been out that night if they werent going to buy the weed is just immature and not being hknest with yourself and thats what you accusing everyone here of not doing.

Kinda hypocritical. I am sorry for then dying though, shitty situation.

As for the car accident, again sorry for loss BUT , every one us who drives knows the risks before getting in the car due to SOMEONE ELSES negligence. Weed,lq other drugs ect... should all be illegal to be doing while driving.

However, to fight weed being legal has shown its wasted resources spent, how it could be better fought of dui and possession of people not of age in comparison to when its legal but watched.

How many cops were actually administering thc tests to drivers last 50years? Now how many are done in colorado and surrounding states?

If anythng it proves if it were monitored back when your friends died, the driver had more chances of being arrested and not had a liscence or had learned a lesson from previous offences/fines/jail time before time of accident.

Far fetchd but being someone who is preaching truth you should recognize, there may be small chance of that accident being prevented. Regardles to how small it would still have been A CHANCE to being prevented compared to NOT ONE chance back then.
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Or the guy might not have been stoned but simply tested positive. Or he could have been drunk too (likely, I've seen more than one MJ related car crash resulting in a death reported as MJ killed someone when it turns out the driver was drunk too).

OFC I don't believe you should be driving around out of your gord, but I also think a little common sense goes a long way. Some people need to smoke in the morning to get out of bed. Those people probably do not get very high, but still get the benefit. They should still be allowed to drive as there's no good evidence they should not be allowed to.
 
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