Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by n1 on Wednesday November 12 2014, @03:52PM   Printer-friendly
from the snuff-ignorance-before-it-spreads dept.

Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), reports at AlterNet:

A new study identifying minor differences in the brain imaging of habitual marijuana consumers compared to non-users may be ideal for stimulating sensational headlines (e.g., "Regular pot smokers have shrunken brains, study says," Los Angeles Times, November 10), but tells us little in regard to whether pot poses actual health risks.

Specifically, an MRI scan revealed less gray matter in the orbital frontal cortex of pot-smoking subjects compared to those who had never used the drug. Researchers also identified increased connectivity between certain regions of the brain in regular marijuana users compared with non-users.

So precisely what do these findings tell us in regard to pot use and health? Not much. Since the study design is not longitudinal, investigators cannot determine whether these differences are caused by subject's cannabis use, whether these differences existed prior to subjects' ever trying cannabis, or whether these differences persist when users' cannabis consumption ceases.

Most importantly, investigators in this study failed to determine whether any of these differences are positively associated with any measurable adverse performance outcomes, such as cognitive performance or quality of life. It may be that these cannabis users are functioning in their daily lives in a manner that is indistinguishable from controls, in which case the imaging differences may hold little if any real-world significance.

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Lagg on Wednesday November 12 2014, @06:25PM

    by Lagg (105) on Wednesday November 12 2014, @06:25PM (#115304) Homepage Journal

    Interestingly enough the few times I did feel like lighting while experiencing a migraine (as I'm sure you remember the pain-so-bad-its-nauseaus feeling) it helped it to a certain extent. I think it relieves pressure in the same way it does for people who use it for glaucoma. But yeah if there is something that actually causes damage to the brain I'd be more willing to think it was carcinogens than anything from the THC or cannabis itself. Perhaps they should have a cigarette smoker control group or something. Or even just use people who ingest without smoking. It's kind of silly that any self respecting experiment would do otherwise since it introduces a ton of new variables.

    --
    http://lagg.me [lagg.me] 🗿
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +1  
       Insightful=1, Total=1
    Extra 'Insightful' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   3