Posted on 08/30/2014 1:11:43 PM PDT by BenLurkin
The paper will be published Wednesday, August 27, 2014 in the Journal of Neuroscience.
... researchers used an MRI machine and the brains of 40 people between the ages of 18 and 25. They claim that the more marijuana a person smokes, the more those two neural regions get "damaged."
Dr. Hans Breiter, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, co-authored the study. He says, "Anytime you find there's a relationship to the amount of marijuana consumed and you see differences of core brain regions involved in processing of rewards, the making of decisions, the ability to assess emotions, that is a serious issue."
Co-senior author of the study, Anne Blood says, "There is this general perspective out there that using marijuana recreationally is not a problem - that it is a safe drug. We are seeing that this is not the case."
The research team included experts from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School helped reach their conclusion by comparing MRI images from the brains of 20 recreational pot smokers (who smoke around 11 joints per week) and the brains of 20 non-users. All 40 people fell into a similar demographic in terms of age, education level, personality, alcohol use and general anxiety levels.
Scientist measured two different regions in the brains of the marijuana users. They looked for differences in the sizes and shapes of their nucleus accumbens, which affects pleasure and reward, and their amygdalas, which handles emotional memory and the assessment of negative consequences. These areas in marijuana users were large than in those who did not smoke.
... "When we saw that there was a consistent abnormality and that it was directly related to the amount of cannabis one took in, it gave us some significant pause.
(Excerpt) Read more at designntrend.com ...
Absolutely true. Pot mimics actual human things..like love and other emotions. In the meantime the brain areas that actually generate these things atrophy from lack of use. That’s why we say stoners are “burned out” if they’re not smoking pot. They are emotionally and spiritually dead individuals.
please top the insane cyber stalking and name calling. You are an embarrassment to the Libretardians. I wish this board had an ignore button.
Lol. You are doing exactly what you accuse me of. Call the mods. I dare you
I tend to agree that there is a tendency to conflate what policy should be and what prudence should dictate.
The “war on drugs” has been an unmitigated disaster i.e. horrible policy.
I think occasional use of pot is probably fine but in many cases occasional use leads to chronic use.
Chronic use of marijuana is occasionally (and apprarently) well tolerated but much more often leads to all sorts of ill effects and often means a person ceasing to be a highly functioning individual.
In short decriminalize it and stay away from it is my take.
Your pro-heroin legalization horseshite is on the internet.
Pass the bong in the other direction
So I guess the scientific conclusion of the study is that doing things to ridiculous excess can be bad for you. I wonder how much taxpayer money went toward this brilliant conclusion.
The study was paid for by the National Institutes of Health, the Office of National Drug Control Policy and Northwestern Medicine's Warren Wright Adolescent Center. The paper will be published Wednesday, August 27, 2014 in the Journal of Neuroscience.
From the ONDCP Reauthorization Act of 1998:
SEC. 704. APPOINTMENT AND DUTIES OF DIRECTOR AND DEPUTY DIRECTORS.
(12) shall ensure that no Federal funds appropriated to the Office of National Drug Control Policy shall be expended for any study or contract relating to the legalization (for a medical use or any other use) of a substance listed in schedule I of section 202 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 812) and take such actions as necessary to oppose any attempt to legalize the use of a substance (in any form) that-- (A) is listed in schedule I of section 202 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 812); and (B) has not been approved for use for medical purposes by the Food and Drug Administration
By law, if the ONDCP funded the study, then the results must not support legalization.
Still not able to back up your statement, I see.
Why is this seen as a negative? Perhaps having larger nucleus accumbens and amygdalas, is a good thing?
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