Heavy Marijuana Use Doesn't Damage Brain
Analysis of Studies Finds Little Effect From Long-Term Use
By Sid Kirchheimer
WebMD Medical News
July 1, 2003 -- Long-term and even daily marijuana use doesn't
appear to cause permanent brain damage, adding to evidence that it can
be a safe and effective treatment for a wide range of diseases, say
researchers.
The researchers found only a "very small" impairment in memory and
learning among long-term marijuana users. Otherwise, scores on thinking
tests were similar to those who don't smoke marijuana, according to a
new analysis of 15 previous studies.
In those studies, some 700 regular marijuana users were compared
with 484 non-users on various aspects of brain function -- including
reaction time, language and motor skills, reasoning ability, memory, and
the ability to learn new information.
"We were somewhat surprised by our finding, especially since
there's been a controversy for some years on whether long-term cannabis
use causes brain damage," says lead researcher and psychiatrist Igor
Grant, MD.
"I suppose we expected to see some differences in people who were
heavy users, but in fact the differences were very minimal."
The marijuana users in those 15 studies -- which lasted between
three months to more than 13 years -- had smoked marijuana several times
a week or month or daily. Still, researchers say impairments were less
than what is typically found from using alcohol or other drugs.
"All study participants were adults," says Grant, professor of
psychiatry and director of the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research
Center at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.
"However, there might be a different set of circumstances to a 12-year-old whose nervous system is still developing."
Grant's analysis, published in the July issue of the Journal of
the International Neuropsychological Society, comes as many states
consider laws allowing marijuana to be used to treat certain medical
conditions. Earlier this year, Maryland became the 10th state to allow
marijuana use to relieve pain and other symptoms of AIDS, multiple sclerosis,
cancer, glaucoma, and other conditions -- joining Alaska, Arizona,
California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.
Medicinal marijuana is available by prescription in the
Netherlands and a new marijuana drug is expected to be released in Great
Britain later this year. In the U.S. and elsewhere, Marinol, a drug
that is a synthetic form of marijuana and contains its active
ingredient, THC, is available by prescription to treat loss of appetite
associated with weight loss in AIDS patients.
Grant says he did the analysis to help determine long-term
toxicity from long-term and frequent marijuana use. His center is
currently conducting 11 studies to determine its safety and efficacy in
treating several diseases.
"This finding enables us to see a marginal level of safety, if
those studies prove that cannabis can be effective," Grant tells WebMD.
"If we barely find this effect in long-term heavy users, then we are
unlikely to see deleterious side effects in individuals who receive
cannabis for a short time in a medical setting, which would be safer
than what is practiced by street users."
Grant's findings come as no surprise to Tod Mikuriya, MD, former
director of non-classified marijuana research for the National Institute
of Mental Health Center for Narcotics and Drug Abuse Studies and author
of The Marijuana Medical Handbook: A Guide to Therapeutic Use. He is
currently president of the California Cannabis Medical Group, which has
treated some 20,000 patients with medicinal marijuana and Marinol.
"I just re-published a paper of the first survey
for marijuana toxicity done in 1863 by the British government in India
that was the most exhaustive medical study of its time in regards to
possible difficulties and toxicity of cannabis. And it reached the same
conclusion as Grant," Mikuriya tells WebMD.
"This is merely confirming what was known over 100 years ago, as
well as what was learned by various government findings doing similar
research -- marijuana is not toxic, but it is a highly effective
medicine."
In fact, marijuana was available as a medicinal treatment in the U.S. until the 1930s.
Lester Grinspoon, MD, a retired Harvard Medical School
psychiatrist who studied medicinal marijuana use since the 1960s and
wrote two books on the topic, says that while Grant's finding provides
more evidence on its safety, "it's nothing that those of us who have
been studying this haven't known for a very long time.
"Marijuana is a remarkably safe and non-toxic drug that can
effectively treat about 30 different conditions," he tells WebMD. "I
predict it will become the aspirin of the 21st century, as more people
recognize this."
My thoughts, experiences, and the road to better health with use of MMJ as opposed to the use of toxic synthetic-and using what God gave us: what is here on this earth.
Pages
- Home-Information, etc-on MMJ
- MEDICAL BENEFITS-: AIDS/HIV
- ALCOHOLISM/ADDICTION (CAREFUL, SUPERVISED USE!!!!!)
- ALZHEIMERS (!!!)
- Brain Tumors
- Arthritis
- AUTISM
- ANOREXIA
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
- ARTHRITIS
- Chronic Pain (whatever the CAUSE)
- Complex Regional Pain Syndrome: My own Story
- DYSTONIA
- Gastrointestinal Disorders
- MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS
- My Journey Through RSD
- Introduction to the Endocannabinoid System
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Gliomas/Cancer
- Foreword Get the PDF Version of this Document Gregory T. Carter, MD Department of Rehabilitation Medicine University of Washington School of Medicine
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