CASUAL POT USE ADDLES THE BRAIN

Research shows smoking pot only once or twice a week can damage core structures of the brain

Researchers from Harvard Medical School and Chicago’s Northwestern University have discovered that smoking pot even casually once or twice a week can damage the nucleus accumbens and the amygdala, both core structures of the brain which are linked to emotion, motivation and addiction. Their findings were reported in the Journal of Neuroscience.

The researchers analyzed MRI brain scans of 20 pot smokers aged 16 to 25 and compared them to the brain scans of 20 people in that age group who had never smoked pot. The nucleus accumbens of the pot smokers was unusually large and the amygdala was deformed, as compared to those structures in the brains of non-pot smokers.

Professor Hans Breiter, one of the researchers from Northwestern University said:

“This study raises a strong challenge to the idea that casual marijuana use is not associated with bad consequences. ‘Some of these people only used marijuana to get high once or twice a week. People think a little recreational use shouldn’t cause a problem, if someone is doing OK with work or school. Our data directly says this is not the case.”

Dr Anne Blood, one of the Harvard researchers, said:

“These are core, fundamental structures of the brain. They form the basis for how you assess positive and negative features about things in the environment and make decisions about them.”

Dr Carl Lupica of the United State National Institute on Drug Abuse said:

“This study suggests that even light to moderate recreational marijuana use can cause changes in brain anatomy. These observations are particularly interesting because previous studies have focused primarily on the brains of heavy marijuana smokers.”

On the other hand, Professor Peter Jones, professor of psychiatry at the University of Cambridge, said:

“This is an interesting piece of research. However, it is limited as it is only a small study. The main point is that, as usual, more research is needed.”

Even though, as Prof. Jones says, the study was limited, the findings should raise alarm bells about the use of pot, including its use only once or twice a week.

OK, let’s hear it again: Pot is less harmful than alcohol.