Marijuana is the most commonly abused illicit substance in the US, with 26 million Americans smoking pot at least once in 2008. Sixteen states now have legal medical marijuana programs as well.
Reports surfaced in the 1970’s claiming smoking medical marijuana arizona resulted in brain damage. There were descriptions of marijuana smokers as irrational, unproductive, dell, apathetic, and lazy, which then followed with beliefs that smoking pot resulted in brain damage.
Modern brain imaging techniques, including CAT scans, have found no evidence of brain damage in very heavy human marijuana smokers or those with an arizona marijuana card. In the 1970’s at Tulane Medical School, a series of animal studies were performed evaluating massive doses of THC – 100 times the psychoactive dose in humans. The initial studies showed that these heavy doses produced profound EEG changes with the implanted electrodes in the brains of monkeys. These changes reverted to normal within one hour of drug administration.
Further animal testing was not conclusive, however, the monkey autopsies showed damage to the brain hippocampus. In humans, the hippocampus is associated with intellectual function. The assumption was then that humans smoking phoenix medical marijuana would then experience brain damage.
A few years after the Tulane study, the National Center for Toxicological Research in Arkansas repeated the study on a larger scale. Four groups containing 65 monkeys were evaluated: 1) High dose inhalation 2) Low dose inhalation 3) Placebo smoke 4) No smoke inhalation. The results on this larger study displayed no marijuana related brain abnormalities whatsoever in any groups.
Previous scientific research could not definitively prove brain damage from marijuana usage. However, some recent research could change that. A new study from late 2010 showed potential for marijuana smoking to reduce cognitive function.
In a paper presented meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Dr. Staci Gruber, reported that in a small study of participants who began smoking pot before 16 years of age, they performed significantly worse on cognitive function tests than both non-smokers and those who became chronic smokers later in life.
This will necessitate a larger study, as there could be potential for longer term vulnerability with starting smoking while the nervous system in still immature.
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