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Marijuana use can impact your ability to think

2022-01-20T19:55:42.086Z


A new study estimates that chronic marijuana use can affect higher brain functions, such as planning and thinking.


Marijuana abuse affects the brain, study says 0:55

(CNN) --

Remember Cheech and Chong?

The classics who spend their days in a room (or car) covered in marijuana, capable of little more than finding their next churro.


If you don't remember them, it's not surprising.

As more and more states legalize marijuana, marijuana's stereotypical mind-numbing effects have fallen out of fashion, often replaced by an acceptance of the drug as an acceptable way to socialize, relax, and sleep better.

But while society has forgotten the impact marijuana use can have on the brain, science hasn't.

Studies have long shown that getting high can impair cognitive function.

Now a new review of the research, published Thursday in the journal Addiction, concludes that the impact can last well beyond the initial high, especially for teens.

  • Teen Marijuana Vaping Doubles in Past Seven Years, Study Finds, With Potentially Harmful Consequences

"Our study has allowed us to highlight several areas of cognition that are affected by cannabis use, such as concentration problems and difficulties with remembering and learning, which can have a considerable impact on users' daily lives. "says co-author Dr. Alexandre Dumais, clinical associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Montreal.

"Cannabis use in youth can therefore lead to reduced educational attainment and, in adults, to poor job performance and dangerous driving. These consequences may be worse in habitual and heavy users," Dumas says.

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Marijuana's impact on the brain can be especially detrimental to the cognitive development of young people, whose brains are still developing, said Dr. Megan Moreno, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. , who did not participate in the study.

"This study provides strong evidence for the negative cognitive effects of marijuana use, and should be taken as critical evidence for prioritizing the prevention of cannabis use in youth," Moreno said.

"And unlike Cheech and Chong's time, we now know that the brain continues to develop until the age of 25."

"Parents should be aware that teens who use marijuana are at risk of damaging their most important organ, the brain."

  • Uncontrollable vomiting due to marijuana use is on the rise, study finds

High level thinking

The newly published review looked at studies on more than 43,000 people and found a negative impact of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the main psychoactive compound in cannabis, on the brain's higher levels of thinking.

Those executive functions include the ability to make decisions, remember important facts, plan, organize, and solve problems, as well as control emotions and behavior.

Can these deficits be recovered or reversed?

Scientists aren't sure.

"Research has revealed that THC is a fat-soluble compound that can be stored in body fat and thus gradually released into the bloodstream over months," Dumais said, adding that high-quality research is needed to establish the impact. long-term from that exposure.

Some studies claim that the negative effects on the brain can subside after quitting marijuana use, but this may also depend on the amount, frequency and years of use of the drug.

The age at which use began can also play a role, if it falls within the crucial period of juvenile brain development.

  • Teen smokers are less likely to quit as adults, study reveals

"Until now, the most consistent alterations produced by cannabis use, especially chronic use, during youth have been observed in the prefrontal cortex," Dumais said.

"Such alterations can potentially lead to long-term impairment of cognitive and executive functions."

In addition, some studies have shown that "early and frequent cannabis use in adolescence predicts poor cognition in adulthood," he added.

While the science clarifies this, "preventive and interventional measures should be considered to educate youth about marijuana use and discourage chronic marijuana use...as youth remain especially susceptible to the effects of cannabis." Dumas said.

Marijuana use

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2022-01-20

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