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Scientists have confirmed the long-held suspicion that frequent heavy marijuana use damages the brain's memory and learning capacity. Enlarge Close
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Australian researchers have showed for the first time that the earlier people start their marijuana habit, the worse the brain damage.
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"Our results suggest that long-term cannabis use is hazardous to white matter in the developing brain. This was especially true for those who had started in adolescence, as we know the brain is still developing during this time," Lead researcher Dr. Marc Seal, from Melbournes Murdoch Children's Research Institute said in a university release. Scientists from MCRI, Melbourne University and Wollongong University compared MRI scans of the brain for 59 people who had been using marijuana for an average of 15 years to 33 healthy people who had never used the drug. After measuring changes to the volume, strength and integrity of white matter in the brains of all participants, researchers found that long-term heavy cannabis users had disruptions in their

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white matter fibers. The brain's white matter is responsible for information passed between different areas of grey matter within the nervous system, and unlike grey matter, which are the brain's thinking areas that peaks at age eight, white matter continues to develop as people age. Seal and his team found that there was more than 80 percent reduction of white matter in the brains of users. Additionally, researchers found that the average age of participants in the study started using cannabis when they were 16 years old, participants who started using the drug at a younger age like 10 or 11 had even more severe brain damage. "This is the first study to demonstrate the age at which regular cannabis use begins is a key

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factor in determining the severity of the brain damage," Seal said, according to AAP. He explained that marijuana interferes with naturally occurring cannabinoid receptors in the brain and by introducing external cannabinoids into a person's system it stops their white matter from maturing. Researchers linked the significant changes in the white matter in the brain's hippocampus and commissural fibers, suggesting that long-term marijuana use may lead to memory impairment and deficits in learning and concentration ability. "These people can have trouble learning new things and they are going to have trouble remembering things," Seal said. "We don't know if the changes are irreversible but we do know that these changes are quite significant," he added. Researchers said that the findings could not be explained by recreational drug and alcohol use. Researchers will monitor participants for the next two years to detect any further changes. The latest findings add to results from previous smaller studies that showed that the brain's memory center, the hippocampus, shrunk in heavy marijuana users.

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15 comments

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Gustavo Picciuto

2 months ago

What a coincidence that this comes out a few months before oral argument will be made to reschedule Marijuana. You can NOT put out such a claim because you examined 59 people, that's way to much of a small sample to make such claims. This could have been orchestrated by someone who's interests is in keeping Marijuana illegal. Humans have been consuming and smoking Marijuana for thousands of years and yet we don't see people in drove in hospitals with brain damage solely because of Marijuana and you have never seen ANYONE overdose or die solely because of Marijuana. This study does not state if these individuals were also tobacco smokers or if they also consumed alcohol; or you mean to tell me that you found 59 people who have ONLY smoked Marijuana for 15 years and not done anything else?? Also the link of the study in your article reads the following as a title "Adolescents most at risk of brain damage from long term, heavy cannabis use". So exactly how do you test a developing brain for 15 years, because that's what the study says, 15 years or more? Did they start smoking as soon as they were born? Did they select 59 adolescents that have been using Marijuana heavily for 15 years or 59 older people that were smoking for the last 15 as their brains were developing?? I call B.S.
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Live Rehab

2 months ago parent

Gustavo we agree with some of your questions pertaining to the accuracy of the study and would like a way to verify some of the claims.
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William Shirley

2 months ago parent

Medical marijuana is also vaporized or eaten to avoid problems with smoking it. Does the study compare various means of using the drug or just a handful of smokers? Is the act of smoking a problem all by itself?
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MarkEntry

2 months ago

Australian SCIENTISTS who use poor research methods designed to give the NIDA/DEA the foregone conclusions they're paid to produce. These same people have repeatedly been proven wrong & no one sites them as highly qualified, or their EVIDENCE as being peer reviewed with good protocols. In fact, every article was intentionally put out on NEWS outlet webpages that didn't allow for comments. It's disgusting that everytime the prohibitionists are on the ropes they resort to these same offshore RESEARCHERS who gladly take US taxpayer money to smear the growing reputation of cannabis being the safest substance available, when compared to most FDA approved medicines. Prohibitionists never stop trying to prove cannabis is evil. But, these poorly designed STUDIES only prove that prohibition is even more harmful itself than cannabis use is. Look for the protocols that were set up & you will see these articles are nothing but typical scare tactics propaganda. The biggest shame? Sincerely concerned & innocent people will pick up these articles as being valid & cite them as proof that cannabis really causes brain damage. But, highly sited & peer reviewed studies actually show that cannabis increases positive brain cell growth & may be one tool in the fight against diseases that destroy brain matter. How sad, indeed. Beware, the prohibitionists are getting desperate to keep cannabis illegal. Because, cannabis accounts for 75% of the losing drug war we taxpayers are being taxed to continue. Once cannabis legalized the prohibitionists making their livings off the war on some drug users will be out of jobs. Desperate people do desperate things, & this bogus research is one more case in point.
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Dan

2 months ago parent

Translation = Anything I can say to justify my pot smoking is good enough for me
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^You're a faggot

2 months ago parent

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