marijuana Does Marijuana Make You Stupid?

[Reefa]

 

The stereotype of an avid marijuana smoker is not flattering: slow, unmotivated, a little bit dulled by all that weed. But the science to back up this stereotype is far from clear.

 

Research is mixed as to whether marijuana causes declines in intelligence and functioning over time. Animal studies and some brain scans in humans provide reason for concern: Marijuana is psychoactive, and may cause structural brain changes. In people, weed's cognitive effects seem to last at least several weeks after use, long after the person stops feeling intoxicated. But only a few studies have revealed insight into whether pot lowers IQ in the long term, and those studies have returned conflicting results.

 

Hazy research

 

The recreational use of marijuana is now legal in four states (Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington) and the District of Columbia. Many other states have decriminalized the drug, and some also allow the use of medical marijuana. And a 2013 Gallup poll found that 58 percent of Americans support marijuana legalization, up from a mere 12 percent in 1969. In other words, the drug has never been more mainstream.

 

Despite the loosened regulations, however, marijuana research has lagged. Much of the reason has to do with the difficulty of getting marijuana for study, said Nick Jackson, a statistician at the University of Southern California and a co-author of one of the few longitudinal studies (which follow people over time) on marijuana use. In fact, there has been about three times more animal research on cocaine than on marijuana.

 

"You didn't need to jump through the same number of hoops to get cocaine to test on your animals as you do to get marijuana," Jackson told Live Science. The National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Drug Enforcement Administration contract with only one lab (at the University of Mississippi) to make marijuana available to researchers.

 

The Food and Drug Administration recently relaxed its rules for approving marijuana research, Jackson said. "Things are changing slowly but surely," he told Live Science. "But our research in this area is far behind where it needs to be."

 

That's why the answer to the question, "Does pot make people stupid?" is more complicated than it might seem.

 

Animal studies suggest that pot is not necessarily great for the brain. Rats exposed to marijuana's active ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), experience brain changes and cognitive impairment. And short-term studies with human subjects clearly point to impacts on memory, learning and attention even once a user has sobered up. One 1996 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, for example, found that daily marijuana users did more poorly on tests of attention and executive function (such as planning and self-control) than people who'd smoked pot only once the month before, even though both groups abstained for at least 19 hours before the testing. The drug's effects may persist at least 20 days after smoking, according to a 2011 review on the topic.

 

But the burning question is whether pot hurts the brain in the long run. Does smoking the occasional joint as a teenager mess up your cognitive abilities for life? What if you pick up a pot habit as an adult, after the brain has completed its adolescent growth spurt? Does the dose make a difference?

 

Here, the answers are a lot fuzzier. Brain-scan studies in humans suggest that pot may be linked to anatomical brain changes, such as shrinking of the amygdala, a brain region that processes emotion, reward and fear. In some people with genetic vulnerability, such brain changes might be enough to tip someone into schizophrenia, which is more common in people who have used marijuana. However, the genes in question may lead people to smoke more pot and to be more prone to schizophrenia, rather than directly causing the link between pot and psychosis.

 

And that's the problem with trying to tease out pot's effects: People who use the drug are likely different from people who don't. Thus, studies comparing smokers with nonsmokers at a moment in time are of limited use: Maybe pot caused the cognitive effects you might find, or maybe some other factor explains the difference.

 

Looking long-term

 

To truly tease out the effect of marijuana alone, researchers have to follow people over time, ideally gathering information about their cognition and intelligence before they began using pot. Only a handful of studies have done this so far.

 

The first, published in the journal Neurotoxicology and Teratology in 2005, found that being a current regular user of marijuana led to deficits in memory, IQ, processing speed and memory, but people who had used the drug in the past but had since stopped did not show long-term effects three months after quitting. However, that study followed 113 teenagers who used marijuana for an average of only two years.

 

A bigger, longer-term study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in August 2012, did not bode well for pot connoisseurs. Researchers followed 1,037 New Zealanders from birth to age 38, assessing their cognitive function at age 13 (before any participants had started using cannabis) and again at age 38. Participants reported their cannabis use at age 18, 21, 26, 32 and 38, giving researchers an opportunity to determine whether cognitive effects differed depending on when a person started using marijuana and how long he or she continued to use it.

 

That study found global declines in cognition, including an average drop in IQ of about 6 points in people who had used marijuana. The biggest effects were seen in persistent users — people who reported having consumed marijuana in at least three interviews between the ages of 18 and 38. Notably, the deficits were not found in people who started using marijuana as adults, but were strong in people who took up the habit as teens. The researchers also had participants' close friends or family members fill out questionnaires on the participants' daily functioning, and found that those who had used marijuana were worse off than those who had not.

 

"Marijuana is not harmless, particularly for adolescents," study researcher Madeline Meier, now a psychology professor at Arizona State University, concluded in a statement sent to Live Science.

 

Not all of the longitudinal data agrees, however. For a study published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology in January 2016, researchers followed 2,235 British teenagers, about a quarter of whom had tried pot at least once by age 15. The researchers found no link between cumulative marijuana exposure at age 15 and IQ or educational performance at age 16.

 

The study was based on a short time frame, but even longer-lasting investigations returned conflicting results. In February 2016, researchers published the results of a study following marijuana users and nonusers into middle age. They analyzed the verbal memory, processing speed and executive function (planning abilities and self-control) in 3,385 participants in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study. About 84 percent (2,852) had used marijuana at some point, but only 11 percent (392) had used it in middle age. The study showed that after the researchers accounted for other factors that could have affected the results, such as other drug use and demographics, cumulative pot use was linked to worse verbal memory. For every five years of marijuana use, a person would remember one less word, on average, from a list of 15 they were asked to memorize. However, no declines in executive function or processing speed were found.

 

Turning to twins

 

Although all of these studies controlled for factors that might influence cognition — demographics, other drug use, education — those statistics aren't an exact science. Jackson, along with University of Minnesota Twin Cities researcher Joshua Isen, came up with a way to control the comparison.

 

The researchers were working with two data sets of more than 3,000 identical twins, meaning they had the same genetic makeup and the same home environment. The pairs of twins had undergone intelligence testing between the ages of 9 and 12 (before using marijuana), and between the ages of 17 and 20 (after some had started using the drug). By comparing marijuana users with their non-using twins, the researchers were able to control for the home and environmental factors that aren't necessarily captured in traditional statistical adjustments.

 

The analysis revealed that, overall, marijuana users were indeed cognitively worse off than nonusers in late adolescence. But the users were also worse off before they started using pot. And when researchers compared the pot users to their own non-using twins, they found that the sibling pairs ended up in the same place, cognitively speaking. Thus, it wasn't the pot use that was causing the differences between the group of pot users and non-users. It was some unexplored factor that affected both twins, whether they smoked pot or not.

 

"We believe that what we're looking at has something to do with the common environment that these twins share, something about their family environment or peer environment or school environment," Jackson said.

 

That does not mean that marijuana is harmless, Jackson said. Animal studies do show physiological effects of the drug, and it's likely that something similar is going on in the human brain. But it's not clear how strong the effects are, he said — if an animal exposed to pot runs a maze a few seconds more slowly, how does that translate to points on the human intelligence scale?

 

Jackson and Isen's research, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academyof Science in February 2016, suggests that whatever marijuana's impacts are, they're dwarfed by the environmental factors that caused the pot use in the first place. Jackson said he suspects the results conflict with the 2012 study in New Zealand because in that study, researchers were following heavier users over the longer term, so the results reflect the problems those users had in childhood rather than problems caused by the pot use itself.

 

"I think the real question ends up being for kids, 'Should I be more concerned about how marijuana is affecting their brain, or should I be more concerned about what are the things that have led that person to seek refuge in marijuana?'" Jackson said. "What is going on in that 14-year-old's home life?"

 

Nevertheless, the research in this area is too nascent to draw firm conclusions about whether marijuana use is safe over time, all other things being equal. The National Institutes of Health announced last year that it is launching a longitudinal study of 10,000 children to track the effects of substance abuse, including marijuana exposure, over time. The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study will use neuropsychological testing, as well as brain imaging, to delve into these questions.

 

The answers are likely to be complicated by ever-changeable factors, such as the strength of marijuana being cultivated, Jackson said. Modern weed has been bred to be higher in THC than strains smoked in previous decades, and those concentrations could matter to the brain.

 

"I think it's going to be a very long time until we know," Jackson said.

 

source

 

 

[WALLONN7]

Stupidity does not need accessories... It's self-sufficient!!!

[Reefa]

17 minutes ago, WALLONN7 said:

Stupidity does not need accessories... It's self-sufficient!!!

 

There is that to..

[straycat19]

I have never seen anyone who could be considered smart or intelligent, either before or after, smoking weed.

[Paft]

It can put you in a temporary state of stupidity, sure.

[freeforever03]

All drugs (OTC, prescription, illegal, etc.) have side effects. Why take a chance? Is it really worth it?

[gipsy]

1 hour ago, freeforever03 said:

All drugs (OTC, prescription, illegal, etc.) have side effects. Why take a chance? Is it really worth it?

first of all life itself hv huge side effect 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jordan]

[HandyPAF]

I smoke marijuana daily. I do so because otherwise I would not eat. I don't have an appetite without it.

 

As to whether or not it has made me stupid, that's debateable

[Reefa]

4 hours ago, straycat19 said:

I have never seen anyone who could be considered smart or intelligent, either before or after, smoking weed.

 

Nice to meet you..

 

12 minutes ago, PocketAppZ said:

I smoke marijuana daily. I do so because otherwise I would not eat. I don't have an appetite without it.

spice

As to whether or not it has made me stupid, that's debateable

 

I think your good interesting study though...Me i much prefer the spice..I have had twenty year odd every day weed..Also it plays well with my meds..

[HandyPAF]

3 minutes ago, Reefa said:

I think your good interesting study though...Me i much prefer the spice..I have had twenty year odd every day weed..Also it plays well with my meds..

 

I've been smoking for 14 years now. I wouldn't consider myself a 'stoner' because I don't just sit around and get super high all day long.

 

I smoke 4 times each day: one before each meal and one before bed. And it's just one bowl each time, not a fat blunt or anything overzealous.

[Reefa]

2 minutes ago, PocketAppZ said:

I've been smoking for 14 years now. I wouldn't consider myself a 'stoner' because I don't just sit around and get super high all day long.

 

I smoke 4 times each day: one before each meal and one before bed. And it's just one bowl each time, not a fat blunt or anything overzealous.

 

Cool so can i ask do you take it for medical purposes.?

[HandyPAF]

1 hour ago, Reefa said:

Cool so can i ask do you take it for medical purposes.?

 

Yes, I have a legal prescription. My physician gave me the 'scription to treat my depression, anxiety attacks, high blood pressure, low appetite and sleep apnea.

[straycat19]

1 hour ago, Reefa said:

Nice to meet you..

Couldn't smoke it if I wanted to because the smell makes me sick but that has served me well over the years much to others consternation.  There is no high like running 10 miles.  It helps you eat, sleep, improve your heart, lower your cholesterol, and cures many other things.  And there is a natural high even at my age, though I can't do 10 miles anymore, 5 is about my max.

[straycat19]

19 minutes ago, PocketAppZ said:

 

Yes, I have a legal prescription. My physician gave me the 'scription to treat my depression, anxiety attacks, high blood pressure, low appetite and sleep apnea.

 

I have some friends who have the option of using it legally but their ethics don't let them.  Like them, I don't listen to doctors, because if I did I would have been in a wheel chair in 1994 (I broke several vertebrae in in my back in 1989 in Columbia and the doctors in El Paso told me I would be in a wheel chair within 5 years).  

[HandyPAF]

11 minutes ago, straycat19 said:

I have some friends who have the option of using it legally but their ethics don't let them.  Like them, I don't listen to doctors, because if I did I would have been in a wheel chair in 1994 (I broke several vertebrae in in my back in 1989 in Columbia and the doctors in El Paso told me I would be in a wheel chair within 5 years).  

 

I have nothing against marijuana. It's natural, not home-brewed or anything like cocaine, meth and other drugs are.

 

I was in a very severe car accident in 2006. I fractured my skull in two places, broke nearly every bone in my face (jaw, cheek bones, sinus cavities, nose, forehead, etc.), lost 5 teeth, broke my right shoulderblade, dislocated my right collar bone, fractured 3 ribs, lacerated my spleen, collapsed both lungs and was in a coma for 28 days. I can't even begin to list the repercussions of that crash.

 

Marijuana helps, whether a doctor prescribed it or not.

[flash48]

After reading the various comments above,  I think further study is required.

[mazigh]

Marijuana doesn't make people stupid at all (maybe only when being high), I had an ex-friend who was smoking Hash from time to time but was always the first in mathematics in High-School and University, I live in an area where about 20% till 40% of males smoke hash on daily basis because it's cheap (Rif Mountains where it is cultivated is so close) and even it is illegal, While Cannabis can make you feel awesome psychologically by making you forget about all problems and pains as well as have good daydreams but I noticed that it has strong relation with low self-esteem, paranoia and laziness, it can make you easily angry and violent about stupid things especially in mornings after wake-ups or when you kept urself from it from a long period, in our culture, if someone wants to start a fight people will just tell him.. haven't you took your injection (or Medics) yet? lol

[mazigh]

12 hours ago, PocketAppZ said:

 

Yes, I have a legal prescription. My physician gave me the 'scription to treat my depression, anxiety attacks, high blood pressure, low appetite and sleep apnea.

Did it really solved depression and anxiety? or it worsened it on long term?

25 minutes ago, Crazycanuk said:

It will probably be legalized in Canada sometime next year. 

Maybe not good news, bad sides are more than good sides for me

[HandyPAF]

2 hours ago, mazigh said:

Did it really solved depression and anxiety? or it worsened it on long term?

2 hours ago, Crazycanuk said:

 

In my opinion, depression and anxiety are a part of life. I don't believe there is a cure for them, just a matter of finding a way to deal.

 

I forgot to mention that I also lost 70% of my vision in the car crash, which leaves me unable to legally drive a vehicle for the remainder of my days. That is super depressing, and that's why I believe there is no cure-all for depression. At least, not for mine.

[mazigh]

7 hours ago, PocketAppZ said:

 

In my opinion, depression and anxiety are a part of life. I don't believe there is a cure for them, just a matter of finding a way to deal.

 

I forgot to mention that I also lost 70% of my vision in the car crash, which leaves me unable to legally drive a vehicle for the remainder of my days. That is super depressing, and that's why I believe there is no cure-all for depression. At least, not for mine.

 

I see your point and I really feel sorry for all these horrible things you went through, I do believe that everything have a cure though, Life is not perfect and sometimes too hard, everyone is ruined by some different kind of issues, We should always look at the positive side of life to have some happiness and ignore to the max all issues, faults ..of the past, I do think depression and anxiety have a cure especially if we try to control the way how we see the life and by changing how we live it by following better lifestyle, All the best.