To Smoke or Not to Smoke…
It has been pretty widely accepted that long term daily use of cannabis affects our health in some adverse way.
We know it can weaken our immune system, affect our adrenals, affect our lungs in a similar way tobacco can, and be psychologically addictive.
Most studies on pot use have been on subjects who smoke a lot, every day all day.
But what about the casual user?
What affect, if any, with the person who smokes only once or twice a week?
A recent study by Harvard and Northwestern researched the brains of 18-25 year olds, half of whom smoked pot recreationally and half who did not smoke at all.
Participants were chosen who showed no adverse affect to their casual smoking. They attended classes, got good grades, had good relationships, and were generally seen as ideal students.
With new advances in brain neuroimaging, the researchers were able to look at the nucleus accumbens and the amygdala of the participants.
The amygdala is responsible for emotions, emotional behavior, and motivation.
It is part of the Limbic system and is involved in many emotions particularly those related to survival and for processing emotions such as fear, anger, and pleasure.
It is also responsible for determining what memories are stored and where.*
For example when we hear a disturbing noise, the amygdala heightens our perception of the sound. If this perception is deemed distressing a memory is formed associating the noise with unpleasantness.
These memories can then trigger PTSD attacks anytime.**
The nucleus accumbens play a role in the reward circuit involving both dopamine and serotonin levels.
To everyone’s surprise, every person in the marijuana group, even those who only smoked once a week, showed some abnormalities in the density, volume, and shape of the nucleus accumbens and the amygdala.
So what do we do with this information?
Clearly using cannabis is very helpful for some. It can relax anxiety and help stimulate an appetite.
But for some it is going to cause more anxiety in the long term and this research is helping us understand the whys.
We are still so young in understanding our brain and what is good for it and what harms it.
To Smoke or Not to Smoke, that is the question!
Together Our Hands Are Joined To Heal One Another…
Alexander Gardener
The Lymph Guy
thelymphguy.com
thelymphguy@gmail.com
*Memory loss has been associated with smoking pot for some time.
**Increased paranoia has also been associated with smoking pot.
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