Posted on 03/01/2022 8:20:16 AM PST by Red Badger
Smoking cannabis may result in an acceleration of the biological aging process, according to a new study in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence. After analyzing the epigenomes of 154 people in the US, the researchers found that by the time they hit 30, regular stoners tend to display patterns of genetic activation that are beyond their years.
It is well established that the speed at which we age is not dependent solely upon Father Time, and that environmental factors play a key role in determining our rate of maturation. These external influences bring about changes in the expression of certain genes and therefore contribute to our epigenetic age.
In recent years, researchers have developed tools known as "epigenetic clocks", which look at patterns of DNA methylation in order to determine a person’s biological age. The study authors, therefore, decided to make use of these measures in order to investigate whether smoking weed brings about a discrepancy between an individual’s epigenome and their actual age.
Participants were initially recruited at the age of just 13, and were asked to report their annual level of cannabis use for a period of 17 years. At this point, the researchers used two separate epigenetic clocks to analyze blood samples from each individual.
Results showed a clear correlation between pot smoking and accelerated epigenetic aging, with heavier users displaying the greatest quickening of their biological clock. “There was a dose-effect relation observed such that just within the population of marijuana users, higher levels of lifetime use were linked to greater epigenetic age acceleration,” write the authors.
Importantly, these findings held firm even after the researchers adjusted for other factors such as cigarette smoking, prior health problems, socioeconomic background, personality traits, and lifetime history of depression and anxiety.
“These findings are all consistent with, though cannot conclusively establish, a causal role of marijuana use in epigenetic aging,” conclude the researchers.
Follow-up analyses indicated that the overall increase in epigenetic aging among pot users was correlated with changes within a particular hydrocarbon receptor repressor gene called AHRR. Similar alterations to this gene have previously been linked to cigarette smoking and exposure to air pollution.
Based on this observation, the researchers suggest that the epigenetic aging effects of cannabis are probably caused by the actual act of smoking rather than by the ingestion of THC or any other active component within weed. They also note that “links to epigenetic aging were dependent upon the recency of marijuana use, with more recent use strongly linked to age acceleration and with this effect fading for use in the more distant past.”
This final observation provides hope for those who want to slow down their personal ripening process, as it implies that the genetic impacts of getting baked may be “readily reversible when use ceases”.
🤣
Cue the Kramer scene. If tobacco can do it MJ probably can too.
Do you know this for certain? Most liberals are prudes on weed, but okay with alchohol. Most smokers I know are on the conservative side of the fence.
Yup it does make things a bit more interesting. I only do it in the privacy of my own home and would never do it while driving or at work. I won’t deny that it can have detrimental effects in some, sapping motivation for example. And there are legit studies showing it impedes the development of white matter in the brain, something that continues to develop up to age 25 in non marijuana users. As well as studies showing it can contribute to mental health problems in young people already predisposed to developing them. But over indulgence in alcohol isn’t healthy either, causes way more societal problems yet is tolerated, and I think marijuana deserves the same tolerance. Educate people to the risks (and benefits) and let adults make their own decisions on whether to partake. And yes I’ve just fired up a bowl so I am probably a bit biased on this subject ;).
That’s because weed isn’t a carcinogen like tobacco 🤪
My girl swears by her gummies to help with her neverending pain.
She talked to the people at “ Nevada Made “ and then bought what they recommended.
I cannot say the same would work for you but, she had the same complaint as you when she first started.
Monday’s are special deals day...we alwsys trip over to laughlin nevada on monday
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2019/12/04/willie-nelson-stopped-smoking-weed-vapes-edibles-better/2607652001/
I know a couple that moved from Cali to SD. On the strength of an accusation, they ended up
having their home searched, and being taken in for urinalysis. The laws there are draconian. I know they’re kind of up in the air, at the moment. That just made the process seem worse.
The 70’s was a great decade to be high lol. Nobody had a care in the world and things were looking up. Slightly decadent decade perhaps, but compared to today much more innocent in many respects as well as a much happier time.
Yeah. I have a couple of millennial friends, dedicated weed snorters, that were praising the Super Bowl halftime show, and the great music from the ‘90s. I held my tongue, but I was thinking “You poor bastards.”
Of course it is. Smoke is. We aren’t supposed to be sucking it into our lungs.
Edibles you may be right. I dunno
I agree.
I think the laws have changed but Im not sure.
My son was driving someone elses car and he was pulled over for speeding.
The cop looked past my son and saw a guy that he had arrested for possesion of pot somedays before that.
On the strenght of a supposion the cop pulled both of them in and made my son take a blood test.
They discovered pot in his system and he was charged.
My brother was the Sheriff and i said to him my sons rights were violated...NO he said.
Bull$hit...i believe they found the law unconstitutional
Yup, anything in excess can be poison. Let adults decide. Happy posting 🌿
Looks like there’s a ballot initiative this November.
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