Cannabis News DrugSense
  Smoking Pot Doesn't Harm Brain Function - Study
Posted by CN Staff on June 26, 2003 at 22:16:11 PT
By Deena Beasley 
Source: Reuters  

cannabis Los Angeles -- Smoking marijuana will certainly affect perception, but it does not cause permanent brain damage, researchers from the University of California at San Diego said on Friday in a study.

"The findings were kind of a surprise. One might have expected to see more impairment of higher mental function," said Dr. Igor Grant, a UCSD professor of psychiatry and the study's lead author. Other illegal drugs, or even alcohol, can cause brain damage.

His team analyzed data from 15 previously published, controlled studies into the impact of long-term, recreational cannabis use on the neurocognitive ability of adults.

The studies tested the mental functions of routine pot smokers, but not while they were actually high, Grant said.

The results, published in the July issue of the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, show that marijuana has only a marginally harmful long-term effect on learning and memory.

No effect at all was seen on other functions, including reaction time, attention, language, reasoning ability, and perceptual and motor skills.

Grant said the findings are particularly significant amid questions about marijuana's long-term toxicity now that several states are considering whether to make it available as a medicinal drug.

In California, growing marijuana for medical purposes is legal under a voter-approved law.

The UCSD analysis of studies involving 704 long-term cannabis users and 484 nonusers was sponsored by a state-supported program that oversees research into the use of cannabis to treat certain diseases.

Anecdotal evidence has shown that marijuana can help ease pain in patients with diseases like multiple sclerosis or prevent severe nausea in cancer patients, but the effects have yet to be proven in controlled studies, Grant said.

The UCSD research team said the problems observed in learning and forgetting suggest that long-term marijuana use results in selective memory defects, but said the impact was of a very small magnitude.

"If we barely find this tiny effect in long-term heavy users of cannabis, then we are unlikely to see deleterious side effects in individuals who receive cannabis for a short time in a medical setting," Grant said.

In addition, he noted that heavy marijuana users often abuse other drugs, such as alcohol and amphetamines, which also might have long-term neurological effects.

Some of the research studies used in the analysis were limited by the numbers of subjects or insufficient information about factors like exposure to other drugs or whether participants suffered from conditions like depression or personality disorders.

"If it turned out that new studies find that cannabis is helpful in treating some medical conditions, this enables us to see a marginal level of safety," Grant said.

Source: Reuters UK
Author: Deena Beasley
Published: June 27, 2003
Copyright: 2003 Reuters

Related Articles & Web Site:

Chronic Cannabis Use
http://freedomtoexhale.com/ccu.pdf

Heavy Pot Use Clouds Mental Function: Study
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14858.shtml

Long-Term Pot Use Takes Toll on Brain
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12160.shtml


Home    Comment    Email    Register    Recent Comments    Help

 
Comment #9 posted by FoM on July 08, 2003 at 18:34:28 PT
Related Article: Pot Doesn't Dull Senses
Tuesday, July 8 (HealthDayNews) -- Long-term marijuana use doesn't seem to damage the brain and central nervous system, a new study says.

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine analyzed the results of studies on long-term, recreational marijuana users. The analysis of those studies failed to reveal a substantial, systematic effect on the neurocognitive functioning of those marijuana users.

The only negative side effect identified by the researchers was a minimal malfunction in the domains of learning and forgetting.

The study appears in the July issue of the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society.

The findings may be especially relevant as several states consider making marijuana available as a medicinal drug and there are questions about the potential toxicity of long-term marijuana use.

For their analysis, the researchers examined 15 previous studies on the residual effects of marijuana on neurocognitive performance of adults. The studies included 704 long-term marijuana users and 484 non-users.

In those studies, neurocognitive performance measurements included simple reaction time, attention, verbal/language, abstraction/executive functioning, perceptual/motor skills, learning and forgetting.

"Surprisingly, we saw very little evidence of deleterious effects. The only exception was a very small effect in learning new information," senior author Dr. Igor Grant says in a statement.

http://www.ajc.com/health/content/shared-auto/healthnews/idru/514013.html

More information:

Mayo Clinic -- Marijuana: Can It Relieve Pain?: http://www.mayoclinic.com/invoke.cfm?id=MH00015



[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #8 posted by afterburner on June 28, 2003 at 16:10:59 PT:

While We're Waiting for the Benefit Studies...
Listen to some experts: "cannabanoid expert Dr. Robert Melamede and the hashish inspired wisdom of Konsupsa Joseph Pietri author of The King of Nepal. "

"Let's Roll!" http://www.pot-tv.net/archive/shows/pottvshowse-1256.html [ http://www.pot-tv.net/ram/pottvshowse1256.ram ] Running Time: 20 min Date Entered: 29 Mar 2002 Viewer Rating: 7.31 (652 votes) Number of Views: 8550

Premiere episode featuring cannabanoid expert Dr. Robert Melamede and the hashish inspired wisdom of Konsupsa Joseph Pietri author of The King of Nepal.

ego transcendence follows ego destruction, the benefits of cannabis follow the attempt to prove the harm of cannabis.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #7 posted by afterburner on June 28, 2003 at 09:22:37 PT:

This Study Made It to CNN Headline News.
Now that the "harm" of cannabis has been largely disproved, let us have the studies of the benefits. Get that research going, Nevada and Canada! Funding should be mandated for any future cannabis studies mandated by state initiatives or state legislatures.

ego transcendence follows ego destruction, try as they might to prove cannabis harm, they can only speculate, based on tobacco: now, pay attention to the medical cannabis patients and the medical and psychological studies of the benefits.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #6 posted by The GCW on June 28, 2003 at 08:56:11 PT
This is the wrong study!
"Smoking Pot Doesn't Harm Brain Function - Study" (WE ALREADY KNOW THAT)

The study should be geared to find out how it helps increase brain function.

Cannabis aids in knowing Christ God Our Father through the spirit of truth.

It is the ultimate aid to increased brain function in every facet.

The body, and THC? and other cannabis related stuff is interesting. Yes We have THC like receptor sites in Our brains, and also there is the story about gamma linolenic acid (GLA), which is only available in 5 locations, which is responsible for a strong immune system. Those interesting 5 locations are primrose oil; black current seed oil, borage; MOTHERS MILK AND HEMP SEED OIL.

And the Washington set, would like to prohibit and exterminate hemp /hemp seed oil / cannabis and remove them from the market.

I'm not going to search for the scripture where it says it, but trust Me, it says:

The smallest part of the body is a significant as the larger parts...Biblically.



[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #5 posted by Lehder on June 27, 2003 at 07:54:45 PT
marijuana is not alcohol
>>"The findings were kind of a surprise. One might have expected to see more impairment of higher mental function," said Dr. Igor Grant....

>>Other illegal drugs, or even alcohol, can cause brain damage.

Yet thanks to decades of drug war propaganda, many people, even Dr. Igor Grant, persist in the belief that this plant that grows if you water it and that bears leaves, seeds and flowers, is not a plant at all but a drug that makes you drunk and impairs your brain as if it were alcohol.

More people should smoke marijuana at least once or twice. More people should be generous in handing out marijuana to the uninitiated. Just one experience would be enough for people, whether they wished to continue smoking marijuana or not, to see that marijuana does not enfeeble or incapacitate the smoker as our drug war propagandizes, and to wonder out loud What's the Big Deal. Abbie Hoffman started a movement of stuffing reefers into library books, and smokers today should be generous in spreading the good truth about marijuana too.

>>No effect at all was seen on other functions, including reaction time, attention, language, reasoning ability, and perceptual and motor skills.

Marijuana is not alcohol. It doesn't make you drunk. It will not make you violent. It doesn't cause you to wreck your car, beat your wife, abandon your job, fall down the staris, get loud and obnoxious, or pass out. That's alcohol.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #4 posted by kaptinemo on June 27, 2003 at 07:05:42 PT:

The (genetic) fix was in long before
Have a look at this, good people:

Pharmos corporation cannabinoid research: http://www.pharmoscorp.com/development/syn_cannabinoid.html

From the article:

*Dextrocannabinoid Platform :: Pharmos' dextrocannabinoid compounds are tricyclic in structure, containing three 6-carbon rings per molecule. Dextrocannabinoids lack binding activity at the two known cannabinoid receptors, CB1 and CB2, and as a result, this family of compounds does not show the psychotropic effects seen with naturally occurring cannabinoids. Drug candidates in this family have three main actions: they block the activation of specific ion channels in nerve cells by binding to NMDA receptors as non-competitive antagonists, inhibit inflammatory mechanisms, and are also antioxidants. These three properties enable the dextrocannabinoids to reduce necrosis (sudden cell death) and apoptosis (programmed cell death) caused by a brain trauma, ischemia and a range of neurodegenerative disorders.

Dexanabinol, currently undergoing an international Phase III human study as a treatment for TBI, is the prototypic dextrocannabinoid. Pharmos' focus on dexanabinol and derivative compounds is wide ranging, and the Company is evaluating a number of dextrocannabinoid compounds in preclinical models for stroke, neuropathic pain (spontaneous pain resulting from nerve damage or dysfunction); nociceptive pain (pain caused by activation of nerve sensors as a result of acute tissue damage - e.g. extreme heat or cold and pin prick); neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease; and autoimmune disorders such as multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease, and rheumatoid arthritis, among others.

CB2-Selective Cannabinoid Platform :: The CB2-selective cannabinoids, because they have little affinity for the CNS-located CB1 receptor, also lack the unwanted psychotropic side effects seen with many natural cannabinoids. Bicyclic in structure - containing two 6-carbon rings per molecule - the CB2-selective compounds bind to CB2 receptors, located on immune and inflammatory cells. By activating CB2 receptors, this class of compounds inhibits autoimmune and inflammatory processes, and is likely to be useful for treating autoimmune, inflammatory or degenerative disorders.

The prototypic CB2-selective cannabinoid in Pharmos' library is PRS-211,058, also known as HU-308. PRS-211,058 and other library compounds have shown potent activity in animal models of autoimmune disorders, including multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease, pain and neurodegeneration as seen in Parkinson's disease. Pharmos holds a worldwide, exclusive license from Hebrew University that includes both dexanabinol (HU-211) and HU-308. In collaboration with Professor Rafael Mechoulam, who first synthesized THC in the 1960s, Pharmos scientists have synthesized a library of dextroand CB2-selective cannabinoid compounds, all of which are proprietary to Pharmos*

And still we hear inane sheep bleats from Johnny Pee and Ashcroft about "No-oh med-i-cal us-es! No-oh med-i-cal us-es!"

We EVOLVED with this plant. We carried it everywhere we as a species went. It's literally in our neurochemistry. In our genetic structures. In our brains.

Yes, even in John Pee's brain. Though I have no doubt if he truly believed it, he'd hurriedly have a lobotomy to exorcise the demon cannabinoids.

There are none so blind as those who WILL NOT SEE...



[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #3 posted by FoM on June 26, 2003 at 22:53:12 PT
medicinal toker
I just saw on NWI that he passed away. I am having a problem in finding something sympathetic to say. He was very old. I'm sorry for his families loss.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #2 posted by medicinal toker on June 26, 2003 at 22:41:30 PT
bye to Strom
I had hoped cannabis prohibition would end in Strom Thurmond's lifetime. He was 34 when it started. But Strom's time ran out today. Hope cannabis prohibition's follows his passing ASAP.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #1 posted by FoM on June 26, 2003 at 22:22:16 PT
Good News
Another study that they won't read but good news just the same. Soon they will have to open their eyes and see we aren't making things up.

[ Post Comment ]

  Post Comment
Name:        Password:
E-Mail:

Subject:

Comment:   [Please refrain from using profanity in your message]

Link URL:
Link Title:


Return to Main Menu


So everyone may enjoy this service and to keep it running, here are some guidelines: NO spamming, NO commercial advertising, NO flamming, NO illegal activity, and NO sexually explicit materials. Lastly, we reserve the right to remove any message for any reason!

This web page and related elements are for informative purposes only and thus the use of any of this information is at your risk! We do not own nor are responsible for visitor comments. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 and The Berne Convention on Literary and Artistic Works, Article 10, news clippings on this site are made available without profit for research and educational purposes. Any trademarks, trade names, service marks, or service names used on this site are the property of their respective owners. Page updated on June 26, 2003 at 22:16:11