I wanted to share this study, due to the increasing number of people in the media who claim that cannabis use leads to mental deformaties, Schizophrenia, etc. This has mainly been focused on youth; the popular story is a study that followed youth who began using cannabis at 17, used for 3 years and used "daily" (no disclosure of amount/day). According to the authors of THAT study, they were able to highlight regions of the brain linked to memory and whatnot, showing what they considered malformaties and additionally made references to a potential link to Schizophrenia. Those authors also specifically mentioned that more testing was needed to confirm that cannabis is the only culprit of their test subjects. Here's a new study, emphasis mine: http://www.leafscience.com/2014/03/14/marijuana-users-better-cognitive-skills-study-finds/ \t So... were the claims of cannabis leading to youth brain impairment overplayed, potentially stretched out of context? Of course I am not an advocate of minors consuming cannabis unless for qualified medical reasons... but I think people deserve to know what the science-based facts are. Overall, I think of someone like Carl Sagan when the topic of cannabis + cognition comes up. Good enough for Carl, good enough for me - and he was a pretty heavy user himself.
ok, to be fair about things, I will give this a go.... <weak sarcasm attempt> oh wow..what a lie, we all know pot makes kids crazy and rape white women after disrespecting old people and killing puppies/kittens to drink their blood..this is pinko commie propaganda! </weak sarcasm attempt> there....you anti pot soldiers happy...I gave you equal time...
I've been saying this for so long. There is no conclusive evidence cannabis damages anyone's brain at any point in life. Sorry all you scientists that want cannabis to not just be a healing plant from Mother Earth. Sorry. I'll stick my foot in my mouth when you fuckers make me.
I must say, if we are going to specifically target "motivated decision making" when testing potheads, you are just fucking looking for something negative to report about. Let's see how potheads score on a mouth-moisture test 30 minutes after getting supler blazered!
lol indeed. Besides... what if there are deeper levels involved in "motivated decision making" (MDM for ease)? For instance... let's say we study and find out that cannabis reduces MDM. What topics, subjects and so on are included in MDM? Are the "priorities" through MDM the same type of priorities that run our educational system and other societal constructs? IE the concept as it stands, is that our educational system was largely developed and funded by Ford et al who wanted it to serve as a "grooming system" to make complacent, obedient workers. In our hypothetical study... what if we found that "reduced MDM" really meant, after consuming cannabis the individual realizes that certain societal constructs are not useful and do not serve us - rather they serve those who profit over the constructs. Perhaps reduced MDM could also be described as a balancing, of what is currently an over-active, extreme "MDM" level that is not natural to us or conductive to health and longevity. The "flaws" and "dangers" they find regarding cannabis consumption are usually propaganda, but even the ones that are legitimate are not that bad at all. Even THOSE are potentially debatable too, given the above illustration. As our understandings and science evolves further, much of this may turn crystal clear.
The most dangerous side effect of weed still remains anxiety and dry mouth. Haha. So don't leave your house and have a bottle of water close by. Phew! That was a close one. I'm more than willing to admit cannabis causes brain damage in children - but not until I see it for myself or it becomes a big enough known cause such as that of cigarettes and cancer.
the abstract says "This study provides additional evidence of neurocognitive impairment in the context of adolescent and young adult marijuana use. Findings are discussed in relation to marijuana's effects on intrinsic motivation and discrete aspects of cognition."
LOL For what reason do you imagine the abstract description does not match the results? The abstract implies it to be condemning of cannabis for cognition and yet the results show benefit of cannabis in certain categories but also, no stark reduction of cognitive ability in comparison to the straight lacers. I wonder if the reason could be that this study flies in the face of those damning reports about how cannabis is going to give college kids brain damage and schizo if they start smoking at 17, smoke for 3 years daily. Again in the closing notes of THAT report, the author discloses that further studies (long term observational multi-decade) to confirm that cannabis was the culprit.
it's more likely that whoever made this report on leafscience didn't read the article in depth and cherry picked it. Maybe certain cognitive functions can improve, but to say that overall cognitive functions is better is a stretch. If the conclusion of the paper cited is saying the opposite of what the reporter is saying it's more likely the reporter is misrepresenting this paper. infact the only results that was reported in the short internet article was this I don't see how this leads to better cognition
After reading the full abstract I have to agree that it's not accurate for them to claim that it leads to "overall" better cognition. High functioning - clever pun boys! Sorry kids, looks like you don't get to smoke early after all! Just for fun I wonder of the "users" they selected also had histories of consistent use of narcotics/harder drugs, alcohol or specifically only used cannabis.