Posted on 12/16/2013 9:17:13 AM PST by Zakeet
Teenage pot smokers could be damaging brain structures critical to memory and reasoning, according to new research that found changes in the brains of heavy users.
Research released Monday in the journal Schizophrenia Bulletin showed the brains of young heavy marijuana users were altered in so-called sub-cortical regions — primitive structures that are part of the memory and reasoning circuits. And young people with such alterations performed worse on memory tests than non-using controls, despite the fact that the heavy users had not indulged for more than two years, on average, before the testing.
[Snip]
When the groups were given four tests of working memory, like remembering sequences of numbers they’d seen, heavy users, with or without schizophrenia, performed worse than healthy controls and non-using schizophrenics.
“We saw poor performance in the marijuana groups…” Smith explained. “And the younger somebody started using, the more abnormal they looked.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
“You will find amongst cannabis users both the young and the old, the rich and the poor, the talented and intelligent as well as the ignorant unwashed masses.”
Yes - just like the use of alcohol among people of all ages, income levels, intellect, etc.
Yeah, I've known people who were easier to deal with when they were stoned. I've also known people who were easier to deal with when they were drunk.
Neither drug is so much of a personality changer as a personality enhancer.
Institute for the Study of the Bleedin’ Obvious ping...
No wonder his ideas are so goofy.
Agreed.
Granted that it’s too dangerous for teens.
How about medical use?
I don’t mean nudge-nudge, wink-wink “medical” use, I mean its use to alleviate pain and suffering.
Chemotherapy patients?
I know several retired guys who have various pain issues, and who take it for that reason. They are of the opinion that it is keeping them off opiates and opioids.
I wonder if they looked for a control group that hadn’t been exposed to public school teachers?
Just as everyone who smokes cigarettes does not get cancer.
Everyone who drinks and drives does not kill.
Everyone who jumps out of an airplane does not always die.
http://youtu.be/FuCw8UT5y6c?t=25m07s
The Devil - Venerable Fulton Sheen
The most harmful side effect of pot use is prison rape.
My theory as well. Although I'm sure you'd find a fair share of conservatives (not professed libertarians) who regularly smoke dope or use other drugs, I'd bet you'd find far more libs smoke dope than conservatives. Of course many people spout the chicken or the egg theory concerning dope use: are people who smoke dope more likely to be liberals, or are liberals far more likely to use dope than conservatives?
My own perception is that all drugs can have negative reactions. Marijuana is no different. And I'm for legalizing most of the drug laws concerning dope. Just don't try to tell me it doesn't have any negative consequences concerning mental abilities.
LOL. And in other news, water is wet.
Agreed. I tend to be a live and let live libertarian type of guy, as long as people are not driving drunk or stoned and killing or maiming innocent people or burgling homes to support their habits. The thought of putting the IRS in charge of drug enforcement (i.e. revenue collection) has some appeal and may actually lessen their resources to harass innocent people.
“I don’t understand anything,” she said with decision, determined to preserve her incomprehension intact. “Nothing. Least of all,” she continued in another tone “why you don’t take soma when you have these dreadful ideas of yours. You’d forget all about them. And instead of feeling miserable, you’d be jolly. So jolly,”
Aldous Huxley’s
Brave New World
I saw this thread. I could have sworn the title read, ‘Tea Pot Use...’ Guess I’ve
eaten too many brownies.
...Strictly coffee these days!(grin)
But as Bill Cosby famously said, "Yeah, but what if you're already an a-hole"?
Then drug use will make you an even bigger and bolder a$$hole, of course.
Sorry, I didn’t phrase my question correctly although you caught my drift. I meant to say: does dope turn people into liberals or are libs more naturally drawn to dope than conservatives?
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