And after all of that good news about marijuana...

[Ollie]

Regular marijuana use damages teen brains
Scans show heavy smokers have abnormalities in key development regions

CHICAGO - Adolescents who regularly smoke marijuana risk damaging a key brain pathway associated with language development and some predisposed to schizophrenia may contract the illness early, researchers said Wednesday.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10266097/

If anything, this seems like a pretty obvious attempt to counteract the article we read last week about cannabis being of benefit to the brain. Someone's got to be wrong...but if they are, it should be blazingly obvious to whomever *is* wrong.

But if you watch the positive reports, you'll almost always see a negative report shortly thereafter. I'm not a big fan of young adolescents being daily smokers either, though, because of the development factor. But I'm not sure I buy into this either.

[Christ Himself]

they also never specify what age group is most effected...they talkin early teens or someone who start smoking habituatly at 17-18

[Ollie]

they also never specify what age group is most effected...they talkin early teens or someone who start smoking habituatly at 17-18

Good point.

I got .1 SP for whomever can get me the actual report up here as a link. I'd like to read it in depth, if possible.

[Brady]

That is because we find other ways to communicate. We are not bound my just words and language, there is so much more out there. We tend to think outside of the box.

As for the skitzo thing... Yeah, that may be true, but it depends on the person.

Anyway, too much of ANY good thing is sometimes bad.

[LooshiusLeftfoot]

I have heard the part about shizophrenia though. Mostly in the context of harder drugs, such as mushrooms or LSD, but it makes a lot of sense that if somebody is predisposed to psycholgoical issues, even if it is a latent case, fequent or even infrequent drug use can bring that out and be very harmful to the psyche. I would go so far as to say that both articles are correct, but it depends entirely on the people being tested.

[Ollie]

That is because we find other ways to communicate. We are not bound my just words and language, there is so much more out there. We tend to think outside of the box.

I'd definitely like to think I can communicate well, thankyouverymuch.

[JimmyBeam]

There are so many reports about how Marijuana effects the brain. The truth is, everything you do effects the brain.

If you get a concussion, you can damage up to 1000x more brain cells then if you smoke marijuana everyday for month.


There are many reports similar to this, but from what Ive seen, it has very little effect on a persons brain. It may do some damage, but not a substansial amount.


Unless they link Marijuana to something seious. Im going to keep on tokin

[thelotuseed2.0]

I think its obvious that heavy use can effect a teen in a bad way. I mean teens are pretty mentally fragile and whimsical, they're usually all over the place mentally wise. And marijuana seems to deepen this mental spectrum, for some teens schizophrenia is an aggravating problem.

[n00dleThePirate]

There are so many different pros and cons to weed but seriously, I find the pros to far out-weigh the cons and I will keep smoking as long as I live.

[LooshiusLeftfoot]

There are so many different pros and cons to weed but seriously, I find the pros to far out-weigh the cons and I will keep smoking as long as I live.

Agreed. We can all agree that healthwise, smoking weed is not healthier than not smoking anything. However, you have to weigh how weed affects your life as a whole, and I can safely say that smoking has made me happier and for the most part has positively affected my life.

[Trance]

Personally, I call bullshit, but I will say that with the developing mind, it is possible that getting high could damage some areas of the brain, you just need to prove it first.

[T-Wrecks]

I smoked weed for 3 years in a row a little after I turned 16. I'm also one of the best typist around Drugs and Booze, and I am also an extremely hard drug users, so, studies like this frankly. . . don't mean shit to me.

[Floydian]

according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse

I dismiss that whole article as bullshit.

[JimmyBeam]

I dismiss that whole article as bullshit.

QFT


I thought that right when I read that.

[Vengeful Scars]

Didn't NIMH(National Institute for Mental Health) Debunk the myth that pot can cause Schizophrenia?

[Zephir62]

I dismiss that whole article as bullshit.

You only quoted the very end of the article that had nothing to do with the actual article itself. That could be just an add on by MSNBC. Full quote:

Roughly 3 million Americans aged 12 and older use marijuana on a daily or almost daily basis, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

I wouldn't doubt that fact.

[elay]

"Because this language/auditory pathway continues to develop during adolescence, it is most susceptible to the neurotoxins introduced into the body through marijuana use," explained Dr. Ashtari, associate professor of radiology and psychiatry at New York's Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

In the study, DTI was performed on 12 healthy, early adolescent males compared with 12 late adolescent males to show normal human brain development; 11 schizophrenic patients compared with 17 matched controls; 15 schizophrenic patients who smoke marijuana compared with 17 matched controls; and 15 marijuana smokers compared with 15 matched non-drug users. The scans revealed no abnormal developmental changes in the language pathway in the healthy adolescents, but showed abnormalities in both the marijuana users and schizophrenic patients.

"These findings suggest that in addition to interfering with normal brain development, heavy marijuana use in adolescents may also lead to an earlier onset of schizophrenia in individuals who are genetically predisposed to the disorder," said co-principal-investigator Sanjiv Kumra, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, approximately 3.1 million Americans age 12 and older use marijuana on a daily or almost daily basis. In 2004, 5.6 percent of 12 th graders reported daily use of marijuana.

Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe and disabling brain disorder that affects about one percent of the entire population. Although the causes of the disease have not been determined, it is believed to result from a combination of environmental and genetic factors.

Drs. Ashtari and Kumra said longitudinal studies are needed to determine whether these changes in the brain are permanent or change over time. It is also important to mention that at this time, DTI and MRI are not diagnostic means for schizophrenia patients or marijuana smokers.

[Floydian]

You only quoted the very end of the article that had nothing to do with the actual article itself. That could be just an add on by MSNBC. Full quote:



I wouldn't doubt that fact.

No but if you check out the nifty "interactive" drug thing near the top, you'd see under sources, "NIDA", including information like LSD can be laced with PCP. CAN, but I've never heard of such a thing (Even so, LSD is cheap enough that it would be a waste of money and the already scarce business to do such a thing.

Personally, I feelknow NIDA is a campaign to lie/scare people into thinking any drug use immedietly ruins your life completely.

The "Facts", if they are factual whatsoever, are usually very broad and only show one side.

For example: "38,000 people are killed from driving under the influence of marijauna"
Thats it?.. Where's the comparison? How many people a year die from driving under the influence of sobriety? I bet you its 10 times that number. Alcohol? Probably at least 3 or 4 times that number.

Bare facts alone mean nothing without comparison... And thats if they are facts to begin with.

[Ollie]

I agree with your thoughts on NIDA, and automatically question governmentally funded research of ANY type, not just drug-related.

It's definitely a good point to think about. + for Floyd.