Health Heavy marijuana use shrinks brain parts

[The Helper]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Long-term heavy use of marijuana may cause two important brain structures to shrink, Australian researchers said on Monday.

Brain scans showed the hippocampus and amygdala were smaller in men who were heavy marijuana users compared to nonusers, the researchers said. The men had smoked at least five marijuana cigarettes daily for on average 20 years.

The hippocampus regulates memory and emotion, while the amygdala plays a critical role in fear and aggression.

The study, published in the American Medical Association's journal Archives of General Psychiatry, also found the heavy cannabis users earned lower scores than the nonusers in a verbal learning task -- trying to recall a list of 15 words.

Heavy marijuana use shrinks brain parts: study

Long-term heavy use of marijuana may cause two important brain structures to shrink, Australian researchers said on Monday.

www.reuters.com

 

[seph ir oth]

So marijuana makes you less emotional/fearful/aggresive? Sounds good to me! *ignores memory loss*

 

[The Helper]

The fact they are finally doing some long term studies is a good thing. This is stuff people have already known for years but finally some studies with hard scientific evidence. Basically this proves you can smoke yourself stupid :thup:

 

[ScarletBlade]

Wonder if this could affect your tax deductible...

 

[sqrage]

>>The men had smoked at least five marijuana cigarettes daily for on average 20 years.

That's a crapload.

Everything is bad for you in excess.

 

[Blackveiled]

The fact they are finally doing some long term studies is a good thing. This is stuff people have already known for years but finally some studies with hard scientific evidence. Basically this proves you can smoke yourself stupid :thup:

Dude, you have no idea.

I don't smoke pot, but some of my friends do. We were reading note cards in class a few days ago, and my friend read the first two words wrong, they were really "I seldom" but he said, "2 condoms". Funniest crap in the world. I called him a retard.

 

[Flare]

Hmmm, I would've thought that stuff like that would have been assumed to be true anyway (maybe it was ). Still, interesting fact to know

I called him a retard.

Lol! Awesome

 

[XXXconanXXX]

"marijuana cigarettes?"

Tsk tsk tsk.

 

[Dakho]

I wouldn't be surprised all the stoner kids at our school are dumb as shit... but i think it's a chicken or the egg type thing in that case.

But marijuana cigarettes... lol....

 

[DDRtists]

Wow, 5 of them daily for 20 years? I could only imagine what that costs.
I've always wondered why people pay so much for something so stupid and illegal. Whats funny is that lots of the illegal drugs are found in over the counter meds, such as Dextromethorphan. Stupid people, killing themselves faster.

I wonder what this will do for the medical users. Hmm.

 

[sqrage]

>>I've always wondered why people pay so much for something so stupid and illegal.

That's your opinion. People spend much more money on things such as video games, drinking, etc. It's all just entertainment.

And just cuz it's illegal doesn't mean it's not right.

 

[konerboy]

people pay for it to get high, and play gangsta!

lol a dwarf from my class got some Shizzle and damn he was bad at it , he didn't know how to roll a cigarate and he forgot half of it hhahah.

wannabe junkie (i didn't smoke though I swear)

 

[The Helper]

Drugs being illegal causes the Gangstas and the Gangsta lifestyle. Legalize drugs and all of those people become junkies. The glow of booze, drugs, and money loses its glow real quick when the money is gone. Think about it. If they did that the government would have to come up with other ways to fund its Black Ops.

 

[WolSHaman]

Drugs being illegal causes the Gangstas and the Gangsta lifestyle. Legalize drugs and all of those people become junkies. The glow of booze, drugs, and money loses its glow real quick when the money is gone. Think about it. If they did that the government would have to come up with other ways to fund its Black Ops.

I disagree on the Black Ops part, but I do agree that you could help with the "drug problem" if you were to legalize it and take away the allure of the "gangsta" lifestyle.

 

[konerboy]

by legalizing it will make people stupid.

it dangerous and stupid thats why it's illigal in the first place.

 

[TheDamien]

by legalizing it will make people stupid.

it dangerous and stupid thats why it's illigal in the first place.

This is almost entirely a matter of dosage. Alcohol is persistently evaluated as being a harder drug than cannabis, and you can bet if yet another study was done on people who drink excessive amounts of alcohol, the negative side effects would be shown to be overwhelming (as has been shown in the past).

 

[WolSHaman]

This is almost entirely a matter of dosage. Alcohol is persistently evaluated as being a harder drug than cannabis, and you can bet if yet another study was done on people who drink excessive amounts of alcohol, the negative side effects would be shown to be overwhelming (as has been shown in the past).

I agree sir. Alcohol is more powerful and destructive then Marijuana. Alcohol deals prolonged brain damage, more so then marijuana could. In addition, it damages the liver. Alot. I know this firsthand, as someone I know drank so much that now if he has 1 more drink it could kill him because his liver got so fucked up from him drinking to much. If you want to ban substances based on how much they can harm people, ignoring alcohol is a glaring hypocrisy.

 

[DDRtists]

>>I've always wondered why people pay so much for something so stupid and illegal.

That's your opinion. People spend much more money on things such as video games, drinking, etc. It's all just entertainment.

And just cuz it's illegal doesn't mean it's not right.

Indeed, however, video games and other such entertainment have a longer lasting timespan, and far far less adverse effects. :thup:

I personally don't really care if people do drugs or not, in moderation. I would never befriend someone who does drugs 24/7 though.

 

[The Helper]

I wonder if this is true or not 16 years later...