Marijuana may spur new brain cells

[Nords]

Has the strident hysteria research been wrong all these years? Suddenly I feel a craving for brownies...

 

[justin]

"Our results indicate cannabinoids could be used for the treatment of anxiety and depression."

Getting mellowed out and happy? That "side effect" of cannabinoid consumption was known before this so-called scientific study.

 

[SteveR]

They have been used for several medical conditions:

Anti-nausea treatment for patients on chemo. for cancer.

Anti-depressant..mood elevation

Lowers interior eye pressure which is helpful for glaucoma patients.

There is some evidence that it may also help those with mental illness stabilize their mood swings.


The downside is that it increases the likelihood of unwanted pregnancy and contributes to obesity through over eating.

 

[bow-tie]

puff

puff

pass

 

[SteveR]

Hey Man,.....don't Bogart that joint.

 

[HFWR]

Hey Man,.....don't Bogart that joint.   

'ere.............

 

[MJ]

I haven't had a drag for 30 years. I wish it was legal. I wouldn't mind a smoke once in awhile and would enjoy it diffferently than a great stiff or smooth drink.

This my 1000th post. Drinks and/or joints are on the house.
Hey stop pushing, there's plenty for all.

MJ

 

[wabmester]

Hey kids, if you're going to consume these neurotransmitter analogues, do yourself a favor. Low-carb brownies, OK? Smoking will give you lung cancer.

 

[JPatrick]

On the other hand::  This piece from a letter to parents is part of an anti-drug campaign.
While illicit drug use among teens is on the decline, marijuana is the most commonly used drug among 16- and 17-year-olds, the precise age at which most teens take their college entrance exams. And research shows that last year, 1.3 million teens between the ages of 12 and 17 used marijuana for the first time. That's about the same number of students who are expected to take the SATs this fall. Studies show that marijuana use during these peak academic years can have a significant negative impact on academic performance:

Marijuana can hinder a teen's ability to learn. Heavy marijuana use impairs young people's ability to concentrate and retain information.

Marijuana use is linked to poorer grades. A teen with a "D" average is four times more likely to have used marijuana than a teen with an "A" average.

Marijuana and underage drinking are linked to higher dropout rates. Students who drink or use drugs frequently are up to five times more likely than their peers to drop out of high school. A teenage marijuana user's odds of dropping out are more than twice that of a non-user.

Teens who begin marijuana use at an early age when the brain is still developing may be more vulnerable to neuropsychological deficits, especially verbal abilities.

"Recent research does raise cause for alarm with regard to teen marijuana use and the negative effects on the adolescent body and brain," said Larry S. Fields, M.D., F.A.A.F.P. and President of the American Academy of Family Physicians. "In fact, studies show that heavy marijuana use impairs a teen's ability to concentrate and retain information. And this is especially problematic during these peak learning and testing years."

 

[MJ]

I wonder how well these teens do under the (il)legal influence of alcohol?

 

[sgeeeee]

On the other hand::  This piece from a letter to parents is part of an anti-drug campaign.
While illicit drug use among teens is on the decline, marijuana is the most commonly used drug among 16- and 17-year-olds, the precise age at which most teens take their college entrance exams. And research shows that last year, 1.3 million teens between the ages of 12 and 17 used marijuana for the first time. That's about the same number of students who are expected to take the SATs this fall. Studies show that marijuana use during these peak academic years can have a significant negative impact on academic performance:

Marijuana can hinder a teen's ability to learn. Heavy marijuana use impairs young people's ability to concentrate and retain information.

Marijuana use is linked to poorer grades. A teen with a "D" average is four times more likely to have used marijuana than a teen with an "A" average.

Marijuana and underage drinking are linked to higher dropout rates. Students who drink or use drugs frequently are up to five times more likely than their peers to drop out of high school. A teenage marijuana user's odds of dropping out are more than twice that of a non-user.

Teens who begin marijuana use at an early age when the brain is still developing may be more vulnerable to neuropsychological deficits, especially verbal abilities.

"Recent research does raise cause for alarm with regard to teen marijuana use and the negative effects on the adolescent body and brain," said Larry S. Fields, M.D., F.A.A.F.P. and President of the American Academy of Family Physicians. "In fact, studies show that heavy marijuana use impairs a teen's ability to concentrate and retain information. And this is especially problematic during these peak learning and testing years."

Huh . . . ? I don't advocate marijuana use and haven't used it myself for about 20 years. But I have to say that I doubt the accuracy of these studies. There are several reasons for my skepticism.

1) I don't know how anyone could collect accurate data on this kind of illicit behavior. I recall being asked to fill out a drug use survey form when I was in high school. Kids were assured they could not be identified and were asked to be completely honest. A large percentage of the kids figured this meant they could lie without consequences. I remember the talk in the hallway after the survey and all these people talking about claiming to be heroin addicts, etc.

2) I know a lot of people who were pretty regular marijuana users as teenagers and who are industry and community leaders today. In fact, marijuana use was so prevalent when I was a teenager, it's difficult for me to believe that any significant percentage of the sucessful leaders today were not users.

3) I've seen contradictory data from at least as many other studies in the past. It's pretty easy to produce survey data on a topic like this to prove anything you want. I am skeptical of anything less than peer reviewed data from scientific researchers. And I am skeptical of that data too until it is repeated multiple times by a majority of researchers.

 

[BUM]

Dude, reefer can make you smarter? Well I think... what was the question?

 

[JPatrick]

Is it failures use drugs or is it drugs cause failures?

Was it the chicken or the egg?

 

[HFWR]

No wonder my head's getting larger...

"Yeah, I wanna turn in Freddy; he sold me this chit that wouldn't get a fly high..."
Cheech and Chong

 

[Nords]

And research shows that last year, 1.3 million teens between the ages of 12 and 17 used marijuana for the first time.

What the @#$%?! I have approximately that number of that demographic hanging out in our familyroom every week eating our food and cooking in our kitchen, and not one of them has ever offered me one of their brownies. I think it's time for a little adult supervisory taste-testing!

Marijuana use is linked to poorer grades. A teen with a "D" average is four times more likely to have used marijuana than a teen with an "A" average.

So do the kids get bad grades because they use marijuana, or do they use marijuana to ease the pain of getting bad grades?

When I was being paid by the Navy to screen & verify the quality of our submariners handling nuclear weapons, in my little multi-year sample of ~100 highly-trained sailors it quickly became apparent that the best & brightest were also the ones who had "experimented" the most with marijuana prior to joining the service. (That was their story and they were sticking to it.) Your tax dollars at work, folks.

Wouldn't it be cheaper (and easier to study) if marijuana was regulated like tobacco or alcohol? Don't even get me started on the economics of using the military for counterdrug operations.

As for the brain cells, I'm all for anything that makes my hippocampus grow and I think further research is merited. I doubt that valid results will be obtained from anonymous teenagers filling out surveys, but I'm willing to dedicate my integrity for the human trials necessary to imroving this field's body of knowledge!

 

[astromeria]

I am skeptical of anything less than peer reviewed data from scientific researchers.  And I am skeptical of that data too until it is repeated multiple times by a majority of researchers.

OK, dude--how do I volunteer for one of these studies? (stop crowding folks, there's plenty of test material for everyone)

=astro, willing to do her part in the interest of sound science

 

[Lazarus]

Will it regrow the ones I killed drinking?