Marijuana brain damage in teens?

So I'm 18 and I've been toking for around 3 years. I'm not a super heavy smoker but for the past year i was smoking at least once a day. Anyway, i read about 3 different studies that said teens who smoked marijuana, since their brain's are still developing, exhibited loss of "executive function" and performed poorer on "cognitive function" tests as apposed to a group of non-smokers. all of these studies had a relatively small sample size ( between 14 - 35) these people had mostly smoked from between age 13-16 until they were 18-19 and in the last few years they were smoking around 28 grams a week, also about half of the people in the smokers groups were fairly heavy drinkers. All the studies also seemed to be conducted by organizations with a negative stance on marijuana to begin with. I've been cutting down a little anyway, but I've only smoked a couple times in the last two weeks. So, my question is do you think there's any truth to these?

Edited by stickodoom, 03 September 2011 - 06:54 AM.

http://forum.grassci...orum-rules.html

http://forum.grassci...orum-rules.html

sorry about that misprint, i put in the correction

You like studies?

Current and former marijuana use: preliminary findings of a longitudinal study of effects on IQ in young adults (full - 2002) Current and former marijuana use: preliminary findings of a longitudinal study of effects on IQ in young adults

Heavy cannabis use without long-term effect on global intelligence (news - 2002)
International Association for Cannabis as Medicine

Marijuana does not dent IQ permanently (news - 2002)
Marijuana does not dent IQ permanently - 08 April 2002 - New Scientist

Non-acute (residual) neurocognitive effects of cannabis use: a meta-analytic study. (abst - 2003) Non-acute (residual) neurocognitive e... [J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2003] - PubMed - NCBI

Study: Brain Not Permanently Damaged by Marijuana (news - 2003)
Study: Brain Not Permanently Damaged by Marijuana | The Partnership at Drugfree.org

Minimal Long-Term Effects Of Marijuana Use Found In Central Nervous System By UCSD Researchers
(news - 2003) Minimal Long-term Effects Of Marijuana Use Found In Central Nervous System By UCSD Researchers

Heavy Marijuana Use Doesn't Damage Brain (news - 2003)
Entheology.org - Preserving Ancient Knowledge

A preliminary DTI study showing no brain structural change associated with adolescent cannabis use
(full - 2006) A preliminary DTI study showing no brain structural change associated with adolescent cannabis use

Effects of Alcohol and Combined Marijuana and Alcohol Use During Adolescence on Hippocampal Volume and Asymmetry (full - 2006) Effects of Alcohol and Combined Marijuana and Alcohol Use During Adolescence on Hippocampal Volume and Asymmetry

Pot May Not Shrink Teens' Brains After All (news - 2006)
[FONT="]Medical News: Pot May Not Shrink Teens' Brains After All - in Neurology, General Neurology from MedPage Today[/FONT]

Moderate cannabis use not harmful to the brain of adolescents, M R I study finds
(news - 2006) International Association for Cannabis as Medicine

Acute effects of smoked marijuana on decision making, as assessed by a modified gambling task, in experienced marijuana users (abst - 2007) http://www.informawo...78611568~db=all

Cannabis Intoxication Does Not Adversely Impact Decision Making
(news - 2007) Illinois NORML - Cannabis Intoxication Does Not Adversely Impact Decision Making

Neurocognitive performance during acute THC intoxication in heavy and occasional cannabis users.
(abst - 2008)
Unbound MEDLINE | Neurocognitive performance during acute THC intoxication in heavy and occasional cannabis users. PubMed Journal article

Review: executive functioning and cannabis use. (abst - 2008)
Unbound MEDLINE | [Review: executive functioning and cannabis use.] PubMed Journal article abstract

Learning and memory performances in adolescent users of alcohol and marijuana: interactive effects.
(full – 2010)
[FONT="]Learning and memory performances in adolescent users of alcohol and marijuana: interactive effects. - Free Online Library[/FONT]

Marijuana May Offset Alcohol-Induced Cognitive Impairment Among Teens
(news – 2010) Marijuana May Offset Alcohol-Induced Cognitive Impairment Among Teens - NORML



and far from killing brain cells-

Marijuana might cause new cell growth in the brain (news – 2005)
[FONT="]Marijuana might cause new cell growth in the brain - health - 13 October 2005 - New Scientist[/FONT]

Good News For The Medical Marijuana Movement: Pot Proliferates Brain Cells And Boosts Mood
[FONT="] (news - 2005) [/FONT][FONT="]Good News For The Medical Marijuana Movement: Pot Proliferates Brain Cells And Boosts Mood[/FONT]

Marijuana Protects Your Brain (news - no date) art-mjbrain.html

Delta(9)-Tetrahydrocannabinol protects hippocampal neurons from excitotoxicity (abst - 2007)
[FONT="]Unbound MEDLINE | Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol protects hippocampal neurons from excitotoxicity. PubMed Journal article abstract[/FONT]

If you need to read more, just click that first link in my sig!





Granny

Edited by Storm Crow, 03 September 2011 - 06:41 AM.

No, chances are those kids that started smoking at that age were half fuckin' retarded to begin with. I'm 19 now turning 20 in a few weeks been smoking since freshman year so that puts me at about 5 years going on 6 and in the last year and a half I would say I've been a pretty heavy smoker. Smoking several times a day, daily. Can't say I feel any stupider, in fact I could confidently tell you I can focus better when I'm high, plan things better when I'm stoned.. much better then I ever could when sober

The only truth I can see in this is probably in memory.. My memory was never all that good to begin with though. I've never been able to remember either of my parents birfdays. Short term memory is probably a little worse now too but not to the point where I'll forget something 2 mins after you tell me. Unless I'm just flat out not paying attention then yea.. in through one ear and out the other.

Looks like Storm Crow dismissed you're arguement. See, like for years, us "stoners" have disproved anti-cannabis propaganda, but because of paraniod retards like you, its still illegal. hope you're proud of yourself bro.

So I'm 18 and I've been toking for around 3 years. I'm not a super heavy smoker but for the past year i was smoking at least once a day. Anyway, i read about 3 different studies that said teens who smoked marijuana, since their brain's are still developing, exhibited loss of "executive function" and performed poorer on "cognitive function" tests as apposed to a group of non-smokers. all of these studies had a relatively small sample size ( between 14 - 35) these people had mostly smoked from between age 13-16 until they were 18-19 and in the last few years they were smoking around 28 grams a week, also about half of the people in the smokers groups were fairly heavy drinkers. All the studies also seemed to be conducted by organizations with a negative stance on marijuana to begin with. After reading these studies i got a little scared and I've only smoked a couple times in the last two weeks. So, my question is do you think there's any truth to these? and do you think should i cut down or stop smoking?

wtf..... I dont know how someone can think this way

Yah they looked pretty suspicious to begin with, especially since some people claimed they took out a lot of the original data to give the impression they wanted, the only thing i've really noticed is the short term memory impairment like Traxin said, and that's only when I'm high.

smoked since I was about 15 and scored a 2090 on the SAT.

come at me bro

Here are the original articles by the way
Research Finds that Marijuana Use Takes Toll on Adolescent Brain Function

http://www.usatoday....eendrugs22_ST_N.

Heavy Marijuana Use May Damage Developing Brain In Teens, Young Adults

smoked since I was about 15 and scored a 2090 on the SAT.

come at me bro

Teach me your ways. I need a good score also.

Looks like Storm Crow dismissed you're arguement. See, like for years, us "stoners" have disproved anti-cannabis propaganda, but because of paraniod retards like you, its still illegal. hope you're proud of yourself bro.

Your such a fucking tool he was just asking a question

Besides what Granny's contributed here:Cannabinoids as antioxidants and ... - Google Patents

Looks like Storm Crow dismissed you're arguement. See, like for years, us "stoners" have disproved anti-cannabis propaganda, but because of paraniod retards like you, its still illegal. hope you're proud of yourself bro.

Ha. I had a feeling granny would be here

its not the smoking weed and the properties of the weed your smoking.

its the lifestyle and choices that surround weed smoking , that you choose to make as a teen that effect your life.

eg. i smoke weed everyday. i used to stay up late and not care about study or school and fail at my subjects. everyone said "quit pot. its bad 4 u." i lied and said i quit but just studied harder. still smoked.

that was my experiment but i didnt have a big fucken internet writeup about it.

OP, I smoked for the last 5 years of my school life, and smoked every day during all of my major public exams, and managed to get in Oxford and attain top marks in all my exams.

So no, I really don't think that Cannabis has any inherent effect on cognitive ability, those who fail and smoke, would have failed anyway, and those studies are probably skewed in some way. If you're not stupid about your learning, then you'll be fine.

You need to educate yourself about these studies. Government studies are usually shit. Example? The study that started the government propaganda that high fat diets cause all the health problems had all the data removed that did not work for the end goal. That's why when they issued their new diet to Americans for their health we saw a huge uprise in heart disease and diabetes and not a reduction. The same removal of important data was probably used in those studies you read.

yayyy

Personally I don't believe it. I was a daily toker from 14-22 and I recently finished med school.

yeah everything they say is true[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkB1Yi5OSYA]1970s Anti-Marijuana Commercial - YouTube[/ame]