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To: dmz
'Marijuana in adolescence can cause permanent brain damage'

"We looked at the different regions of the brain. The back of the brain develops first, and the frontal parts of the brain develop during adolescence.

We found that the frontal cortex is much more affected by the drugs during adolescence. This is the area of the brain that controls executive functions, such as planning and impulse control. It is also the area most affected in schizophrenia."

New research may give backing to parents telling teens to "just say no." A study in mice from the University of Maryland School of Medicine reveals that regular use of marijuana during adolescence could damage brain function, potentially increasing the risk for schizophrenia and other psychiatric problems.

The study, which was recently published in Neuropsychopharmacology, had scientists examining cortical oscillations - patterns of the brain's neuron activity - in mice. These oscillations become abnormal when schizophrenia or other psychiatric disorders are present.

Researchers exposed young mice to low doses of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is the active ingredient present in marijuana, for 20 days. Then the mice were returned to their family to continue developing.

When the mice became adults, the scientists discovered that their cortical oscillations were severely modified, and the mice showed signs of impaired cognitive functions.

Sylvina Mullins Raver from the University of Maryland says: "The striking finding is that, even though the mice were exposed to very low drug doses, and only for a brief period during adolescence, their brain abnormalities persisted into adulthood."

167 posted on 07/02/2014 7:02:37 PM PDT by Phillyred
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To: Phillyred
'Marijuana in adolescence can cause permanent brain damage'

Young people have been reporting for several years that they can get illega-for-adults pot more easily than legal-for-adults beer or cigarettes. It appears that the most effective legal policy for keeping drugs away from kids is to legalize them for adults, which gives legal sellers an economic incentive to not sell to kids.

173 posted on 07/03/2014 7:03:35 AM PDT by ConservingFreedom (A goverrnment strong enough to impose your standards is strong enough to ban them.)
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To: Phillyred

So if something is bad for kids, it should be illegal for adults, correct?


174 posted on 07/03/2014 7:43:15 AM PDT by Wolfie
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