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isaac Offline OP
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Kinda gnarly, Mon'! Don't Bogart!
=========

Casual marijuana use linked with brain abnormalities, study finds

By Loren Grush
Published April 15, 2014�
FoxNews.com

Casual marijuana use may come with some not-so-casual side effects.

For the first time, researchers at Northwestern University have analyzed the relationship between casual use of marijuana and brain changes � and found that young adults who used cannabis just once or twice a week showed significant abnormalities in two important brain structures.

The study�s findings, to be published Wednesday in the Journal of Neuroscience, are similar to those of past research linking chronic, long-term marijuana use with mental illness and changes in brain development.

Dr. Hans Breiter, co-senior study author, said he was inspired to look at the effects of casual marijuana use after previous work in his lab found that heavy cannabis use caused similar brain abnormalities to those seen in patients with schizophrenia.

"The interaction of marijuana with brain development could be a significant problem."
- Dr. Hans Breiter, co-senior study author

�There were abnormalities in their working memory, which is fundamental to everything you do,� Breiter, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, told FoxNews.com. �When you make judgments or decisions, plan things, do mathematics � anything you do always involves working memory. It�s one of the core fundamental aspects of our brains that we use every day. So given those findings, we decided we need to look at casual, recreational use.�

For their most recent study, Breiter and his team analyzed a very small sample of patients between the ages of 18 and 25: 20 marijuana users and 20 well-matched control subjects. The marijuana users had a wide range of usage routines, with some using the drug just once or twice a week and others using it every single day.

Utilizing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the researchers analyzed the participants� brains, focusing on the nucleus accumbens (NAC) and the amygdala � two key brain regions responsible for processing emotions, making decisions and motivation. They looked at these brain structures in three different ways, measuring their density, volume and shape.

According to Breiter, all three were abnormal in the casual marijuana users.

�For the NAC, all three measures were abnormal, and they were abnormal in a dose-dependent way, meaning the changes were greater with the amount of marijuana used,� Breiter said. �The amygdala had abnormalities for shape and density, and only volume correlated with use. But if you looked at all three types of measures, it showed the relationships between them were quite abnormal in the marijuana users, compared to the normal controls.�

Because these brain regions are central for motivation, the findings from Northwestern help support the well-known theory that marijuana use leads to a condition called amotivation. Also called amotivational syndrome, this psychological condition causes people to become less oriented towards their goals and purposes in life, as well as seem less focused in general.

Given these eye-opening results, Breiter said that more research is needed to look into marijuana�s effects on the brain � even in those who use the drug only once or twice a month.

�We need to see what happens longitudinally,� Breiter said. �What happens as you follow people over time? What happens if they stop using � do these bad effects continue? What happens if you can intervene early?...My worry is we haven�t studied this compound and here we are looking to change legislation on it.�

Although Breiter�s team members did not examine the patients� cognitive symptoms, they do believe that the brain abnormalities seen in their study could lead to substantial effects on brain development and behavior, especially given the young ages of the participants. Breiter also acknowledged the problems of analyzing a very small study sample � but said that their findings should still serve as a wake-up call to others.

�This study is just a beginning pilot study, but at the same time, the results that came out are the same as a canary in a coal mine,� Breiter said. �...The interaction of marijuana with brain development could be a significant problem.�


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Originally Posted by SBTCO
your flippant remarks which you so adeptly sling
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if you had any clue bout how these studies are conducted in the US you would take them with a ton of skepticism....."junk science" comes to mind cause they are rigged from the very start.....not saying the stuff is harmless, never said that, only said it aint any worse and in alot of ways a whole lot less dangerous than alot of chit docs give yah without thinking twice.....Tylenol is extremely dangerous if you dont pay attention and its sold over the counter....

but seriously unless the study is coming out a major medical institute of some other western country i dont pay much attention to it when it comes to marijuana....and no even those arent all favorable but atleast i know they are largely unbiased..


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In short, dope retards motivation. Who'd a thunk?


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Dude, don't give Sheridan any excuses for his behavior! grin

In all honesty, I don't envy your pain Sheridan, not one little bit. If you have found something that helps, then I really cannot judge you.

Hope that today is a good one for ya...


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Well, that certainly explains this:

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isaac Offline OP
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atleast
===

See?


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Originally Posted by isaac
atleast
===

See?


laugh


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[Linked Image]

keep in mind alot of these studies in the US are gone into with a predetermined outcome.....and before some one cries "paranoid" or "conspiracy theory" its along the same lines of the man made global warming BS.....only way to get support for doing the study is if you come out with the outcome those giving the grants want.....junk science at its finest....


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isaac Offline OP
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Laffin'!

I so knew that was coming. Payback's a bish,bro'!


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Originally Posted by ltppowell
In short, dope retards motivation. Who'd a thunk?


I highly dis-agree with this statement. I don't smoke it, but I know several people that do, some of them are the most highly motivated people I know, a doctor, couple of lawyers and highly skilled professionals. I'm not saying it don't make a lot of people worthless and lazy, but I think they were that way to begin with, weed just makes it worse for them.

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A doctor and a couple of lawyers? They are doing coke for the GO times.


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Originally Posted by Steelhead
A doctor and a couple of lawyers? They are doing coke for the GO times.


LOL, no kidding.

"Just a little to even me out"


Originally Posted by SBTCO
your flippant remarks which you so adeptly sling
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Originally Posted by Bluedreaux
Originally Posted by Steelhead
A doctor and a couple of lawyers? They are doing coke for the GO times.


LOL, no kidding.

"Just a little to even me out"


Nope, big time against it, the green is recreational only, weekend types.

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Having lived for the past couples decades in a little town where the use of the stuff by adolescent and adult males is said to be in the 90 percentiles, and seeing what it does to people, nothing would surprise me regarding changes to the brain, mind, psyche......


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Originally Posted by mirage243
Originally Posted by ltppowell
In short, dope retards motivation. Who'd a thunk?

I highly dis-agree with this statement. I don't smoke it, but I know several people that do, some of them are the most highly motivated people I know, a doctor, couple of lawyers and highly skilled professionals. I'm not saying it don't make a lot of people worthless and lazy, but I think they were that way to begin with, weed just makes it worse for them.

Yeah, been there with a few of those seemingly motivated types in the "professions" - those who have not might be much surprised at some of their primary motivations. No matter how affable and convivial, NEVER would I hire one for an organization about which I care.


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Originally Posted by CCCC
Originally Posted by mirage243
Originally Posted by ltppowell
In short, dope retards motivation. Who'd a thunk?

I highly dis-agree with this statement. I don't smoke it, but I know several people that do, some of them are the most highly motivated people I know, a doctor, couple of lawyers and highly skilled professionals. I'm not saying it don't make a lot of people worthless and lazy, but I think they were that way to begin with, weed just makes it worse for them.

Yeah, been there with a few of those seemingly motivated types in the "professions" - those who have not might be much surprised at some of their primary motivations. No matter how affable and convivial, NEVER would I hire one for an organization about which I care.


Would you hire one that drinks alcohol?

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Originally Posted by Klikitarik
Having lived for the past couples decades in a little town where the use of the stuff by adolescent and adult males is said to be in the 90 percentiles, and seeing what it does to people, nothing would surprise me regarding changes to the brain, mind, psyche......


So does that put you in or out of the 90%?





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they could have just saved their money and asked me about it......Every kid I knew in high school that was a big Mary Jane fan is still as stone stupid as they were then.


Paul

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Originally Posted by mirage243
Originally Posted by CCCC
Originally Posted by mirage243
Originally Posted by ltppowell
In short, dope retards motivation. Who'd a thunk?

I highly dis-agree with this statement. I don't smoke it, but I know several people that do, some of them are the most highly motivated people I know, a doctor, couple of lawyers and highly skilled professionals. I'm not saying it don't make a lot of people worthless and lazy, but I think they were that way to begin with, weed just makes it worse for them.

Yeah, been there with a few of those seemingly motivated types in the "professions" - those who have not might be much surprised at some of their primary motivations. No matter how affable and convivial, NEVER would I hire one for an organization about which I care.


Would you hire one that drinks alcohol?

I have hired folks who drink alchohol but would never hire an alchoholic - and have let more than one person go because of the effects of their alchohol abuse. Alchohol abuse is a genuine problem but, with regard to performance in a demanding profession, if you are assuming to in some way equate the usual effects of even regular moderate alchohol ingestion with the effects of ingesting weed, cocaine, meth, etc. - you might wish think again.


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