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

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.

>>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.

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...