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Zachary Armijo

Mr. Shumaker

English 102

5 May 2018

Kush & Knowledge

With the legalization of marijuana becoming a hot topic arising within the past few years,

researchers are scrambling now more than ever to make sound and definitive conclusions on how

marijuana effects people when used long-term. It’s important to understand that the ability to

draw definitive conclusions about marijuana’s long-term impact (especially on the brain) is often

limited because of study participants from past studies using multiple substances, researchers

having limited data about the participant’s health, or mental health problems. Being a relevant

topic of today mixed with my interest in psychology and the brain, I find the topic of looking

into the effects that marijuana causes on the brain and neural development is not only fascinating

but, potentially could lead to concrete evidence on the long-term effects of marijuana use that

could influence the youth of today.

Initially diving into the topic of long-term effects of marijuana use, I found that the sex of

the marijuana user is important because of how it implies differences among the sexes with the

development of cannabis use disorders and other effects that differ among sexes. No differences

were observed when researchers ran blood samples and hormonal analyses but, when looking

into brain volume there was differences among male and female. Social anxiety was observed in

both sexes but, the males’ anxiety was related to their conforming and coping methods

(Ketcherside et al. 2). Symptoms of social anxiety in women was highly correlated with social

motives. Most interesting from the collected data stated, the earlier age of initiated use of
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marijuana in females was related to less education, lower IQ, fewer years of maternal education,

and poorer episodic memory (Ketcherside et al. 2). This data also proved more men than women

face lifetime use of marijuana. When scanning brains of males and females, female marijuana

users had larger right amygdala volumes and more internalizing symptoms than female

controls, while male users had similar volumes to male controls (Ketcherside et al. 3). For

female controls and males, worse mood/anxiety was linked to smaller right amygdala volume,

whereas more internalizing problems were associated with greater right amygdala volume in

female marijuana users only (Ketcherside et al. 3). The amygdala is located in the temporal

(side) lobe of the brain and is responsible for emotion, survival instincts, and memory. Most

users use it to deal with emotions but, survival instincts could lead to marijuana users being at

a survival disadvantage to other humans. Memory has been reported of being weakened or

altered since they started studying marijuana, so this comes as no surprise.

Differing effects of marijuana use among the sexes provide evidence for the differences

between males and females regarding the risks & rewards of chronic marijuana use. A study

performed at the University of New Mexico, published by the National Academy of Sciences,

had researchers measure gray matter (GM) volume in users and nonusers using structural MRI

scans across the whole brain. Results showed that marijuana users had lower gray matter

volumes than nonusers meaning that users have less control/activity in regions of the brain

responsible for impulse control, decision-making, and learning compared to those who don’t use

cannabis (Filbey et al. 2). This deficit within gray matter volume produced by marijuana use

could explain why it is more difficult to change these counterproductive behaviors after

beginning such habits. These effects are not surprising given that the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC)

where the gray matter resides, is the primary region in the brain associated with the reward
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network (Filbey et al. 4). When using marijuana, THC (tetrahydrocannabinol a.k.a. the chemical

in marijuana that produces the “high”) acts upon specific brain receptors that ordinarily react to

THC-like chemicals. Using THC imitates these chemicals, which when done repeatedly can

result in a tolerance causing less satisfaction to the user possibly causing less satisfaction

regarding other things. While linking smoking daily for at least four years with reduced GM

volumes in the brain, researches have concluded that chronic marijuana users showed greater

connectivity within the brain, which is a measure of how well information travels between

different parts of the brain (Filbey et al. 6). Researchers have not yet concluded how the

connectivity increases but, they believe it has something to do with how THC reacts with the

orbitofrontal cortex in the brain (responsible for cognitive processing of decision-making).

When understanding all the effects of marijuana on the brain specifically, one must take

into account for how marijuana’s effects are different on the adolescent brain than the adult, fully

matured brain. Studies have shown how adolescents’ developing brains may be particularly

vulnerable to long-lasting damage from cannabis. Factors like peer pressure or emotional distress

is sometimes used as reasoning to why teens & young adults choose to use marijuana. Overall,

looking into the adolescent brain and consistent marijuana use is relevant to the long-term effects

of marijuana on the brain because researchers want to decipher if marijuana is the driving factor

for problem behavior and poor life outcomes predisposing people to drug use or is the

vulnerability of the developing brain the cause?

Duke University psychologist Terrie Moffitt, PhD, and colleagues collected data from the

Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, a longitudinal research that followed

1,000 New Zealanders born in 1972, where participants answered questions about marijuana use

at ages 18, 21, 26, 32, and 38. Participants also underwent neuropsychological testing at ages 13
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and 38 to see how the marijuana use changed their brain. They concluded that persistent

marijuana use is linked to a decline in IQ, even after controlling for educational differences

between the subjects. The most persistent marijuana users involved in the New Zealand study,

those who reported using cannabis in three or more waves of the study experienced a drop in

neuropsychological functioning equivalent to about six IQ points (Blaszczak-Boxe 3). Susan

Weiss, PhD, concluded the IQ deficit is “in the same realm as what’d you see with lead

exposure.” This is so severe because the frontal cortex of the human brain (responsible for

planning, judgement, decision-making and personality) is one of the last areas of the brain to

fully develop.

The biggest issue in the long-term effects of marijuana use lies in making solid, concrete

conclusions on what marijuana does to you over time. A recent study conducted by the students

of Harvard Medical School in 2017, proved earlier age of recreational marijuana use onset, as

well as higher frequency and magnitude of use, relates to impairment later along in the user’s

lifetime. The study also covered how marijuana use alters connections in the brain, which is

something many are unaware of. Now with that being said, frequency and magnitude of use, and

the potency of the marijuana products are all factors that play into whether marijuana can

positively improve neural connections within the brain. The role of abstinence was also covered

in the study, proving marijuana users who abstained for at least three months demonstrated

similar cognitive performance relative to healthy control subjects (Gruber and Sagar 107). They

concluded that additional research is needed for a more precise conclusion to be made about how

abstinence, potency of the product, and the frequency and magnitude of use each individually

play into your health (Gruber and Sagar 109).

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Although smoking marijuana flower is traditional among recreational users, other forms

such as vaporizing, “dabbing”, edibles, tinctures, and oils have all increased in popularity since

twenty-nine states legalized cannabis for medical use and nine states for recreational use ranging

from 1996 to 2017. New flavor-enhanced distillates and high terpene full spectrum extracts are

now erupting amongst cannabis users, products that were unheard of just five years ago.

Extracting cannabinoids dates as early as the 1800’s in U.S. pharmacies but, although those

practices laid the foundation for solvent-based cannabis extraction, manufacturing of a product

intended for oral consumption through vaporization didn’t appear until the 1940’s (Bennett).

With less than a century of research, sound conclusions can’t be made about whether cannabis

extracts or products that contain cannabis extracts have long-term effects on the brain and neural

development.

With marijuana being regulated as a drug in every state by the mid 1930’s and outlawed

as illegal of any use with the passage of the Controlled Substances Act in 1970, weed has been

debated for a long time with little research. Legalization for recreational and medicinal use

sparked the interest of researchers everywhere, leaving them scrambling for answers. With today

being so many variations of ways to consume cannabis, solid conclusions haven’t been made for

long-term effects on the newer technology arising in the marijuana industry. From observing all

sources, marijuana can have benefits to your neural connections in your brain and how you

process information. But, marijuana can also cause negative effects to your brain, resulting in up

to a loss of six IQ points. Marijuana’s toll on the psychological side of the brain is also unclear to

date but, is known to increase the probability of developing schizophrenia in heavy marijuana

users later in life. My research also showed that this was a rare outcome in chronic users but, still

remains a possibility. People who use marijuana responsibly and for factors other than just
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chasing a “high”, I believe can benefit from using marijuana. Those in which who are chasing

that “high”, can easily get lost in marijuana use which can result in negative thoughts, emotion,

and lack of motivation. Marijuana use and the effects it has psychologically, on mental health,

neural connections, brain structure & volume, all depends on how much marijuana the user

consumes, how frequently the user consumes marijuana, the potency of the products used and the

type of marijuana product the user is getting “high” off of. With so many factors playing into the

long-term effects of using marijuana on the brain and neural development, I conclude the effects

on the brain and neural development is situational regarding the user.

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Works Cited Page

1. Ketcherside, A., Baine, J. & Filbey, F. Curr Addict Rep (2016) 3: 323. https://doi-
org.unr.idm.oclc.org/10.1007/s40429-016-0114-y

2. Filbey, Francesca M., et al. “Long-Term Effects of Marijuana Use on the Brain.” Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 111, no. 47, 2014, pp.
16913–16918. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/43279411.

3. Blaszczak-Boxe, Agata. “7 Ways Marijuana May Affect the Brain.” LiveScience, Purch, 1
July 2016, www.livescience.com/55258-how-marijuana-affects-the-brain.html.

4. NIDA. "Regular Marijuana Use Is Associated with Differences in Brain Gray Matter and
Connectivity." National Institute on Drug Abuse, 1 Sep. 2016, https://www.drugabuse.gov/news-
events/nida-notes/2016/09/regular-marijuana-use-associated-differences-in-brain-gray-matter-
connectivity. Accessed 28 Apr. 2018.

5. Weir, Kirsten. “Marijuana and the Developing Brain.” Monitor on Psychology, American
Psychological Association, Nov. 2015, www.apa.org/monitor/2015/11/marijuana-brain.aspx.

6. Gruber, Staci A., and Kelly A. Sagar. “Marijuana on the Mind? The Impact of Marijuana on
Cognition, Brain Structure, and Brain Function, and Related Public Policy Implications.”Policy
Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, vol. 4, no. 1, 2017, pp. 104–111.,
doi:10.1177/2372732216684851.

7. Bennett, Patrick. “Where Did Dabs Come From? A History of Cannabis Extracts.” Leafly, 12
Jan. 2018, www.leafly.com/news/cannabis-101/where-did-cannabis-dabs-come-from.

8. Budney, Alan J., et al. “Vaping Cannabis (Marijuana): Parallel Concerns to e-

Cigs?” Addiction, vol. 110, no. 11, 2015, pp. 1699–1704., doi:10.1111/add.13036.