Bull3t wrote:
Put it this way, We would pretty much go back to the stone age.
Everyone would be so fucked up all the time they would be stupid because of the lack of brain cells they would normally have without smoking it constantly or at all.
So we would all be cave women, men, boys & girls.
It doesn't cause brain damage.
The reason why you ask this is because you probably heard or read somewhere that marijuana damages brain cells, or makes you stupid. These claims are untrue.
The first one -- marijuana kills brain cells -- is based on research done during the second Reefer Madness Movement. A study attempted to show that marijuana smoking damaged brain structures in monkeys. However, the study was poorly performed and it was severely criticized by a medical review board. Studies done afterwards failed to show any brain damage, in fact a very recent study on Rhesus monkeys used technology so sensitive that scientists could actually see the effect of learning on brain cells, and it found no damage.
But this was Reefer Madness II, and the prohibitionists were looking around for anything they could find to keep the marijuana legalization movement in check, so this study was widely used in anti-marijuana propaganda. It was recanted later.
(To this day, the radical anti-drug groups, like P.R.I.D.E. and Dr. Gabriel Nahas, still use it -- In fact, America's most popular drug education program, Drug Abuse Resistance Education, claims that marijuana "can impair memory perception & judgement by destroying brain cells." When police and teachers read this and believe it, our job gets really tough, since it takes a long time to explain to children how Ms. Jones and Officer Bob were wrong.)
The truth is, no study has ever demonstrated cellular damage, stupidity, mental impairment, or insanity brought on specifically by marijuana use -- even heavy marijuana use. This is not to say that it cannot be abused, however.
"The Chronic Cerebral Effects of Cannabis Use I Methodological Issues and Neurological Findings " by Renee C. Wert Ph.D., Michael L. Raulin Ph.D Vol. 21 Iss. 6 pp. 605-628. 1986.
"The Chronic Cerebral Effects of Cannabis Use II Psychological Findings and Conclusions " by Renee C. Wert Ph.D., Michael L. Raulin Ph.D Vol. 21 Iss. 6 pp. 629-642. 1986.
"Neurotoxicity of Cannabis and THC A Review of Chronic Exposure Studies in Animals " by Andrew C. Scallet in "Pharmacology, Biochemistry & Behavior" Vol. 40 pp. 671-676. 1991.
"Chronic Marijuana Smoke Exposure in the Rhesus Monkey IV Neurochemical Effects and Comparison to Acute and Chronic Exposure to Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in Rats" by Syed F. Ali, Glenn D. Newport, Andrew C. Scallet, Merle G. Paule, John R. Bailey, William Slikker Jr in "Pharmacology, Biochemistry & Behavior" Vol. 40 pp. 677-682. 1991.
"Behavioral, Neurochemical, and Neurohistological Effects of Chronic Marijuana Smoke Exposure in the Nonhuman Primate" by William Slikker Jr. et al. in "Marijuana Cannabinoids Neurobiology and Neurophysiology" Laura Murphy, Andrzej Bartke ed. pub. CRC Press Boca Raton, FL, 1992.
(the following are the studies which were found to be flawed)
"Effects of Cannabis Sativa on Ultrastructure of the Synapse in Monkey Brain" by J. W. Harper, R. G. Heath, W. A. Myers in "Journal of Neuroscience Research" Vol. 3 pp. 87-93. 1977.
"Chronic Marihuana Smoking Its Effects on Function and Structure of the Primate Brain " by R. G. Heath, A. T. Fitzjarrell, R. E. Garey, W. A. Myers in "Marihuana: Biological Effects Analysis, Metabolism, Cellular Responses, Reproduction and Brain " Gabriel G. Nahas, W. D. M. Paton ed. pub. Pergamon Press Oxford, 1979.
"Cannabis Sativa Effects on Brain Function and Ultrastructure in Rhesus Monkeys " by R. G. Heath, A. T. Fitzjarrell, C. J. Fontana, R. E. Garey in "Biological Psychiatry" Vol. 15 pp. 657-690. 1980.
(D.A.R.E. says pot kills brain cells)
DARE Officers training manual section T page 5.