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Title: Long-term marijuana use may fog the brain
Source:
NewScientist.com
URL Source: http://www.newscientist.com/channel ... ana-use-may-fog-the-brain.html
Published: Jun 5, 2006
Author: Andy Coghlan
Post Date: 2006-06-05 00:32:14 by Morgana le Fay
Keywords: None
Views: 326
Comments: 33
Long-term users of marijuana gradually become worse at learning and remembering things, a new study suggests. “It definitely fogs your brain,” says Lambros Messinis, who led the study at the University Hospital of Patras in Greece. Messinis and colleagues tested the mental abilities of 20 long-term users who had taken marijuana heavily – smoking at least four joints a week – for an average of 15 years. Their brains were rustier than those of 20 short-term users – who had averaged seven years of use – and 24 controls who had used the drug sporadically or not at all. Long-term users performed worse in tests to measure memory, learning ability and the capacity to recall information. Asked to recall lists of 15 words that they had seen earlier, for example, the long-term users averaged seven, compared with nine recalled by short-term users and 12 by controls. “Long-term users found it very difficult to learn through new information given verbally,” says Messinis. “It’s not to do with lack of attention but more the encoding process of memory.” Separate tests to probe attention span found that long-term users were able to pick up information immediately, without trouble. Initial ability Although the study is retrospective – that is, the subjects were not tested on their cognitive abilities before they took up marijuana – the researchers are confident that the long-term users’ abilities were not significantly different from the other groups from the beginning. They used a standard test to estimate the long-term users’ original intellectual abilities. Messinis gave subjects the tests at least 24 hours after they had last taken the drug, to make sure they were not still under the influence. “It wasn’t while they were high,” he says. “Importantly, we don’t know if it’s reversible,” he says. To find out, he and his colleague plan to re-test the same subjects after abstinence periods of at least a month. Nadia Solowij, at the University of Wollongong in Australia, says the new findings back previous work by her and colleagues, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2002. “The authors appear to have used the same rigorous criteria for inclusion in their study and confirm that the duration of cannabis use progressively impacts upon cognitive functions,” she told New Scientist.
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#1. To: Morgana le Fay (#0)
Far out
More reefer madness. They'd probably get the same results with alcohol. Or coffee..or sex. LMFAO. Moderation. No amount of BS "studies" will change my mind about the relative safety of marijuana compared to other legal substances nor the fact that it is a FREEDOM issue and should be legalized. The feds have no legal grounds to ban a PLANT.
"I tell you, freedom and human rights in America are doomed. The U.S. government will lead the American people in -- and the West in general -- into an unbearable hell and a choking life." Maybe they should try comparing the effects to, oh let's say, anti-depressants. I've never touched "mary-jane", but I've had plenty of worse side effects from "legal" drugs than anything that showed up in that study.
"The more I see of life, the less I fear death" - Me.
They already did this study a few years ago but they forgot.
"I woke up in the CRAZY HOUSE."
I started smoking pot 40 years ago in Vietnam on ambush patrols. Obviously it didn't fog my head up as I am still here, and still toking!
Truthseeker
I do know several guys who smoke pot every day (have for years) and have no ambition to accomplish a thing in life. I suppose it's very likely that that's the way they are anyway. Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
I've wondered that myself. I know some guys who smoke every day, and have for years, and have no ambition whatsoever. On the other hand, the late Carl Sagan was a pothead, was ambitious, but didn't make much sense.
Freeper motto: "I read, but do not understand; I write, but make no sense."
I think the whole thing is a plot by uptight type-A freaks to get us to make more charts for them to look at, or they want us to read theirs charts...something. They let charts become more important than common sense sometimes. Did you know that Medicare claims are sent using a standard originally designed by the transportation industry, and ANSI has rejiggered it. I've seen schoolbooks that refer to reefer as boxcars, but that's the only place.
Quit bogarting that peace, Herbert!
As the Pa. Dutch say....."Twist up another doobie." :)
I refused to participate in this criminal society back in the 1960's. Whether pot had anything to do with this decision I think not. I was in the infantry and got a good look at what our foreign policy does to our fellow human beings early on. I believe smoking pot has helped to keep the fires of revolution kindled in my soul and gives me the determination to carry on each day in these dark times for us all. Aside from the medicinal value it has for curing the body, it has an even more efficacious effect on a sick and ailing soul. All amerikans need to smoke it like there is no tomorrow, and for all we know there isn't going to be one... for us americans, at any rate.
Truthseeker
Herodotus (450 BC) mentions the Scythians (lower Russian steppes, the source of the plant)throwing stalks of the plant into fires and " getting drunk as Greeks do on wine". Men, women and children, it seems. No grapes were going to be grown by these horse loving nomads, and the plant was prolific. Seems to me this would have been done after a long day of work, when sleep was near. And that may be a significant difference. Blowing a joint before breakfast might be OK on your marriage day, but prolly not as a routine.
more power to you, loner, god knows i'm an ardent proponent of self determination. ;)
For your average mind controlled american I recommend smoking pot upon arising, until falling over in a stupor late that night. I have been following this regime for some 40 years and the mind control programs have had little effect on me.
Truthseeker
from The Scythians - High Plains Drifters by Chris Bennet
Quit bogarting that peace, Herbert!
As my son says, Scythians are pimp!
Truthseeker
They're going to turn hippies into Bushbots.
I'm thinking the stones weren't hot enough to burn the plant matter, just the oils. These Scythians may have invented the first vaporizor.
Quit bogarting that peace, Herbert!
As I sit here puffing on my Vapor Daddy! I guess, for once, my son had an accurate insight! Scythians ARE Pimp!
Truthseeker
I hereby declare my religion that of Targitaus, whatever it was called.
Quit bogarting that peace, Herbert!
Their own personality came first. Which is why we are not all drunken deadbeats. I believe personality and genetics lead to addiction and self-destructive behaviors...everything from nymphomania to alcohol abuse...whereas sex and alcohol are not in and of themselves bad. Same w/ weed. "I tell you, freedom and human rights in America are doomed. The U.S. government will lead the American people in -- and the West in general -- into an unbearable hell and a choking life." We need to indulge in a bowl someday..LOL. I need to find somebody around here with access to it. I grew my own last year but chickened out just prior to budding because I live in an apartment and filed all of the girls in the dumpster :((( afraid the jackboots would invade my privacy while I was at work and bust my ass for 20 years. This is NOT a free country.
"I tell you, freedom and human rights in America are doomed. The U.S. government will lead the American people in -- and the West in general -- into an unbearable hell and a choking life." :)) Just trying to make you cry....LOL. I didn't really do that... :) Ain't worth the risk.
"I tell you, freedom and human rights in America are doomed. The U.S. government will lead the American people in -- and the West in general -- into an unbearable hell and a choking life." Yep, that's the key to most things. Chronic pot smoking can lodge someone in neutral, tho.
yes, i think you're right. i've tried smoking the stuff like 4 times in my life and not once did it do anything but give me sleepy looking eyes. i didn't feel altered at all. last time i did get giggly, but i think it was the company and i'm like that naturally anyway! :P
I've seen this as well. I think it's an acceleration or amplification of already existing personality traits (they were probably kind of like that to start with). Although I think it should be legal, I have a very negative reaction to what prolonged MJ use seems to do. The people I've known who are potheads don't seem to function very well - they have little motivation and their memories and critical reasoning faculties seem pretty poor. I would not advocate using MJ.
"I woke up in the CRAZY HOUSE."
Unless sick, mentally stressed and need relief, I agree. I inhaled a couple times as a young adult, it gave me headaches even just secondhand.
No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare. – James Madison
I.... I.... I..... ..... ..... Wow man...what was this article about again?
I will say this about the marijuana v. alcohol debate, I never had to fight a pot head. OTOH, 99.9% of all domestic disputes were booze fueled and violent. Fire water is the right word.
I don't know. There are plenty of bags of Fritos that have been chomped to bits and destroyed by the wanton munchie hunting stoners. ;-) I remember once being in a work vehicle that got stuck in the woods after a day of progeny tree site preparation on Weyerhauser land. It was cold and raining mixed with snow. The gas tank was low, were were twenty miles from the nearest town and the crew was wet from rain and sweating from work. A good friend in the back seat of the sixpack truck broke the stressful silence with, Wow, wow, well...at least we have enough pot to last us. So though potheads might be numbed to apathetic Stoicism, but hey, as long as the pot lasts, anything is tolerable. My boss and I hiked three miles up to a watchman's trailer and to my employer's consternation I broke a window went in and warmed and dried myself by the gas stove which was the only thing working. He got over the trauma of seeing me violate Weyco private property and soon joined me. When Weyco people went to work in the morning they didn't mind we have broken in, and we returned to the crummy (truck) to find everyone huddled together still cold and by now very hungry but still stoned on my friend's weed. Getting high might be fun occasionally, but I never let it get in the way of taking care of obtaining the basics to keep from suffering. And I will always be amused by those who smoke way too much and feel this is no big thing if they are too apathetic to be motivated to do the same thing.
Quite a tale there Mike. Reading it gave me a slight buzz. The all time best high I ever had was in Hunter Mountain, NY. The winter of ‘68, or there abouts. I was alone in a rented ski house. I turned on the Moody Blues, started a fire and fired up a J. Off I went into that alternate universe. That was the most relaxed I’ve ever been in my life.
I did have an advantage over the rest of the crew in absolute certainty the trailer was there as I got in the habit of always having a topographical map, compass and protractor in my backpack when in an area doing helicopter forest fertilization. I had spent many weeks living in a trailer when not working as the babysitter of a Bell 212, an aviation fuel truck, 'Herbie' the fertilization swing load load bucket with a VW engine, and the front loader that loaded Herbie with the large bags of 56 percent urea nitrogen fertilizer Weyco dumps on forest to give them twenty percent more board foot yield per thirty year crop rotations in that particular area in previous years. I would roam around on my mountain bicycle and had a record of all assets in that part of coastal Weyco land up the Millicoma River drainage annotated for a rainy day done out of old habits from the Army and to keep me occupied. So I had faith in where I was going and would find, and only Bill my Boss knew me well enough to know I was not one to wander off into a huge road matrix at night only to get lost and endanger myself and had the faith to accompany me. The way I feel about it is that there is a time and place for everything. And when tasked I will survive rather then get high on weed. And if my coworkers had been wise, they would have followed us and been warm, dried out and gotten sleep too.
It's a sad day when a person is afraid to grow the holy herb on his peoperty for fear of being carted off to the gulags for years. Whereis our collective line in the sand? I would love to share a bowl with you bro, someday, soon?
Truthseeker
#2. To: Morgana le Fay, LONER, *LEAP* (#0)
--Osama bin Laden
#3. To: IndieTX (#2)
More reefer madness.
#4. To: Morgana le Fay (#0)
#5. To: Morgana le Fay (#0)
#6. To: IndieTX, loner (#2)
#7. To: christine (#6)
I do know several guys who smoke pot every day (have for years) and have no ambition to accomplish a thing in life. I suppose it's very likely that that's the way they are anyway. Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
#8. To: christine (#6)
#9. To: All (#8)
#10. To: christine (#6)
#11. To: christine (#6)
nd have no ambition to accomplish a thing in life. I suppose it's very likely that that's the way they are anyway. Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
#12. To: loner (#10)
#13. To: tom007 (#11)
#14. To: tom007 (#11)
Cannabis was an integral part of the Scythian cult of the dead, wherein homage was paid to the memory of their departed leaders. After the death and burial of their king, the Scythians would purify themselves by setting up small tepee-like structures which they would enter to inhale the fumes of hemp seeds (and the resinous flower calyxes surrounding the seeds) thrown onto red-hot stones.
In a famous passage written in about 450 B.C., Herodotus describes these funeral rites as follows: ...when, therefore, the Scythians have taken some seed of this hemp, they creep under the cloths and put the seeds on the red hot stones; but this being put on smokes, and produces such a steam, that no Grecian vapour-bath would surpass it. The Scythians, transported by the vapour, shout aloud.
It is most likely the seeds described by Herodotus were seeded buds, and that the charred seeds found by archeologists are what was left over from the burnt buds.
#15. To: Dakmar (#14)
#16. To: Morgana le Fay (#0)
"Importantly, we don't know if it's reversible,"
I've already said too much.
#17. To: loner (#15)
#18. To: Dakmar (#17)
#19. To: loner (#18)
#20. To: christine, all, loner, jethro tull, (#6)
I do know several guys who smoke pot every day (have for years) and have no ambition to accomplish a thing in life.
Personally, however, I would never recommend anyone engage in this activity, or any other, with anything more than moderation. Any substance used continually can do harm, including tobacco, fatty foods and alcohol which do far more societal harm and actually KILL. They are legal. [Which of course blows the government lie right out of the water about why marijuana is illegal]
--Osama bin Laden
#21. To: loner (#18)
--Osama bin Laden
#22. To: loner (#21)
--Osama bin Laden
#23. To: IndieTX (#20)
moderation
#24. To: IndieTX (#20)
Their own personality came first. Which is why we are not all drunken deadbeats
#25. To: christine (#6)
I do know several guys who smoke pot every day (have for years) and have no ambition to accomplish a thing in life.
#26. To: mehitable (#25)
I would not advocate using MJ.
#27. To: Morgana le Fay (#0)
#28. To: christine (#24)
#29. To: IndieTX (#20)
#30. To: Jethro Tull (#29)
#31. To: Ferret Mike (#30)
#32. To: Jethro Tull (#31)
#33. To: IndieTX (#22)
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