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Title
Adolescent brains exposed to THC are at higher risk of psychiatric disorders
02/05/2024

THC exposure during adolescence may cause microglial cell death and brain changes, increasing schizophrenia risks in genetically susceptible individuals.
 
Earlier, a 2023 study found heavy marijuana use may trigger schizophrenia, particularly in young men. This study examined the health records of nearly 7 million Danish citizens and determined that up to 30% of schizophrenia diagnoses — around 3,000 in total — could have been prevented if young men hadn’t abused marijuana.


THC, Brain, Delta-8, Research
2020 Feb- Marijuana Update Florida
02/24/2020

The real cost in legalizing marijuana can be counted by the lives impacted- addiction, vaping, dispensing, traffic deaths, suicides, overdoses, … 
 


Colorado, suicide, addiction, Florida, Brain
What Do I Need to Know about Marijuana?
09/25/2019

What Do I Need to Know about Marijuana?   Podcasts   Answers all the myths with science and facts.  Is it safe to drive using marijuana?  If it is a medicine, how can it hurt me?  What does marijuana use do to my brain? ....


Podcasts, Brain, driving, Effects
Largest brain study of 62,454 scans identifies drivers of brain aging
05/01/2019

The study found that a number of brain disorders and behaviors predicted accelerated aging, especially schizophrenia, which showed an average of 4 years of premature aging, cannabis abuse (2.8 years of accelerated aging), bipolar disorder (1.6 years accelerated aging), ADHD (1.4 years accelerated aging) and alcohol abuse (0.6 years accelerated aging). Interestingly, the researchers did not observe accelerated aging in depression and aging, which they hypothesize may be due to different types of brain patterns for these disorders.


study, Brain, aging, science daily
Marijuana and the Brain
07/02/2018
Brain, Drug Free America
Carol Falkowski: Marijuana and adolescents: Caution
03/05/2017

Everyone should be concerned:  Voters, not medical practitioners or scientists, have been able to determine medical practice.
Beneath it all, however, we must pause to seriously consider the known, detrimental effects of repeated marijuana use on the developing adolescent brain.  We must act accordingly and responsibly in ways that promote the public health and safety, help delay initiation of use, and reduce, not increase, the accessibility of marijuana to this particularly vulnerable population.


Public Health, Brain, Long-term, short-term, Falkowski
Learn more about the risks marijuana use poses to your health.
01/29/2017

Here are just a few of the health effects you may want to know:

  • Marijuana use directly affects the brain—specifically the parts of the brain responsible for memory, learning, and attention.
  • The compounds in marijuana can affect the circulatory system and may increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
  • Smoking marijuana can lead to a greater risk of bronchitis, cough, and phlegm production.
  • Marijuana users are significantly more likely than nonusers to develop chronic mental disorders, including schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a type of mental illness where people might see or hear things that aren't really there (hallucinations).
  • Eating foods or drinking beverages that contain marijuana have some different risks than smoking marijuana, including a greater risk of poisoning.
  • About 1 in 10 marijuana users will become addicted. For people who begin using before the age of 18, that number rises to 1 in 6.
  • Some research shows that using marijuana while you are pregnant[288 KB] can cause health problems in newborns—including low birth weight and developmental problems.
  • Marijuana use can slow your reaction time and ability to make decisions when driving[271 KB].

 


Brain, heart, lungs, mental health, poisoning, Pregnancy, driving, CDC, stroke, Side-Effects
Marijuana use in early adolescence may affect verbal IQ
01/24/2017

"The study suggests that the effects of cannabis use on verbal intelligence are explained not by neurotoxic effects on the brain, but rather by a possible social mechanism," said lead author Natalie Castellanos-Ryan, Assistant Professor at Universite de Montreal in Canada


IQ, youth usage, Brain
Parsing the Contradictions: Marijuana and the Brain
12/07/2016

“We see specific morphological changes in the brain to important neurotransmitter systems, and individuals who are exposed to THC early in life show greater sensitivity to opiates than others do,” she said. “We know that the brain definitely adapts to marijuana. It is profoundly changing the receptors and receptor signaling that impact gene expression. And the changes it makes last through adulthood and even into the next generation. So we see that there’s something about the ongoing processes in the developing brain that this drug somehow sensitizes—in the cells, the receptors, and in the signaling cascades—that makes kids more vulnerable to addiction and other problems later.”

“There is a lot of optimism for what components of the marijuana plant may offer on a medicinal level but, like all other drugs, the caveat is that you have to know what it does, what population it can be used for, and who could be vulnerable to its effects. We need a lot more research before we can say anything concrete about its future as a treatment.”

 


Brain, dana foundation, Neuroscience
What Educators Should Know About Marijuana
09/12/2016

KNOW YOUR A,B,C,D’s   …  Absent, Behavior, Course Grade = Drugs
 


Infographics, educators, Brain, youth, charts
How marijuana affects the Brain
07/01/2016

An increased risk of psychosis, changes in the brain's reward system and the scrambled neuron signals that may underlie "the munchies" are just some of the many potential effects of marijuana use on the brain.


Brain, live science
Cannabis use during pregnancy may affect brain development in offspring: Thicker prefrontal cortex
06/20/2016

Summary: Cannabis use during pregnancy is associated with abnormal brain structure in children, according to a new study. Compared with unexposed children, those who were prenatally exposed to cannabis had a thicker prefrontal cortex, a region of the brain involved in complex cognition, decision-making, and working memory.


Pregnancy, Brain, science daily
In Defense of our Brain
04/13/2016

“This is not a war on drugs , it is a defense of our brains!” Dr. Bertha Madras, PhD


powerpoint, Brain
Adolescent Cannabinoid Exposure Induces a Persistent Sub-Cortical Hyper-Dopaminergic State and Associated Molecular Adaptations in the Prefrontal Cortex
01/04/2016

Thus, adolescent THC exposure induced behavioral abnormalities resembling positive and negative schizophrenia-related endophenotypes and a state of neuronal hyperactivity in the mesocorticolimbic dopamine (DA) pathway. Furthermore, we observed profound alterations in several prefrontal cortical molecular pathways consistent with sub-cortical DAergic dysregulation. Our findings demonstrate a profound dissociation in relative risk profiles for adolescent versus adulthood exposure to THC in terms of neuronal, behavioral, and molecular markers resembling neuropsychiatric pathology.  


Brain, adolescent, Research
Study: High-potency marijuana linked with neural damage
11/28/2015

"We found that frequent use of high-potency cannabis significantly affects the structure of white matter fibres in the brain, whether you have psychosis or not," 
The main psychoactive ingredient in weed, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), is much more concentrated in modern skunk strains as compared to traditional pot and hash -- up 14 percent as compared to 4 percent.


Studies, Brain, Potency
Everyone Praises the Healing Power of This Drug—but Many Don’t Realize the Damaging Effect It Has on Teens
09/12/2015

In 2014, Gilman published research on 18-to-25-year-olds that showed differences in the brain’s reward system between users and nonusers. Teens who smoked marijuana had significant abnormalities in the areas of the brain linked to emotion, motivation, and decision-making (see diagram above). “I got a lot of hate mail after that,” she says.


Jangi, MD, reader's digest, Brain
Medicinal and Recreational Marijuana: What are the Risks?
07/31/2015

Brain abnormalities and memory problems were observed in these individuals in their early twenties, two years after they had stopped using marijuana. The cannabis users were noted to have striatal, globus pallidus, and thalamus changes showing these brain regions appearing to shrink and collapse inward. These individuals also had poorer working memory. The earlier the age of cannabis use, the more dramatic the brain changes and memory deficits were noted to be.
Not only does it appear that cannabis use itself is a potential precursor to future drug use, but the age of first use of cannabis and the frequency of cannabis use seem to also be predictors of future substance abuse issues. Studies have shown that over two-thirds of those under the age of 18 who have been admitted to a drug treatment program identify cannabis as their substance of choice.
” One important characteristic that defines a substance use disorder is “an underlying change in brain circuits that may persist beyond detoxification, particularly in individuals with severe disorder"


Teens, Research, Studies, Brain, addiction, anxiety, depression, Resource Paper
Six Ways Science Says Marijuana May Hurt Your Health
06/27/2015
Danger, science, car crashes 2, Brain, addiction, heart, car crashes
Effects on Marijuana Use on Developing Adolescents
04/30/2015
adolescent, Brain, Effects, ATTC, video
Marijuana users may have ‘false memories’
04/22/2015

Participants in a study who had used the drug daily for around three years in their teens had an abnormally shaped hippocampus by the time they were in their early 20s.
They also performed around 18 per cent worse in long-term memory tests than individuals who had never touched the drug.


Brain, Biomedical, youth, memory, Studies, Research
How pot gives people the munchies
02/18/2015
Brain, Studies
Medical Marijuana: The State of the Science
02/06/2015

Medical cannabinoids are here to stay, but intellectual honesty is imperative if we are moving toward exploiting their potential benefits. Owing to rising THC concentrations of products, "medical" marijuana is rarely good medicine. This review has identified the dangers associated with whole­plant marijuana, whether used for recreational or for supposedly medical purposes.


Studies, Research, medscape, mental health, Side-Effects, heart, lungs, body, Brain, youth, cannabis, Resource Paper
Marijuana Effects on Body, Brain & Behavior
01/30/2015
video, Volkow, NIDA, body, Brain, Behavior
How Marijuana Affects the Brain
12/07/2014

“It’s a natural plant! What’s the big deal?” —A common declaration among youth who believe that the effects of marijuana are harmless and that the substance shouldn’t be regulated.  Regardless of public opinion, the science is clear:  Regular recreational use of marijuana during adolescence is harmful to the brain, which isn’t fully developed until the age of 25.


Infographics, Brain, youth
Long-term effects of marijuana use on the brain
10/13/2014
Long-term, Side-Effects, Brain, Research, Studies
The terrible truth about cannabis: Expert's devastating 20-year study finally demolishes claims that smoking pot is harmless
10/07/2014
Brain, Studies
Pot studies suggest regular use is bad for teen brains
08/09/2014
Teens, Brain, Studies
Patrick Kennedy: Legalizing pot endangers children
07/28/2014
youth, Brain
Marijuana- 2014 Dr. Madras Presentation
07/01/2014
madras, opioid, Pregnancy, youth, powerpoint, Brain
Six Ways Science Says Marijuana May Hurt Your Health
06/29/2014
addiction, heart, car crashes 2, Impairment, Death, Brain
Smoking marijuana as a teenager lowers IQ for LIFE, scientists warn
06/07/2014

The damaging effects remain even if the person stops smoking the drug
·         Teenagers are at particular risk because their brains are still developing
·         Smoking cannabis affects critical thinking and memory
·         Researchers warn that stronger varieties today are causing more damage 


Studies, Brain, youth, Impairment, memory
Cannabis Use Is Quantitatively Associated with Nucleus Accumbens and Amygdala Abnormalities in Young Adult Recreational Users
04/16/2014
Studies, Medical, Brain, youth
Casual marijuana use linked with brain abnormalities, study finds
04/15/2014

For the first time, researchers at Northwestern University have analyzed the relationship between casual use of marijuana and brain changes – and found that young adults who used cannabis just once or twice a week showed significant abnormalities in two important brain structures.


Research, Brain, young adults, Studies
NIDA's Dr. Nora Volkow Discusses Marijuana's Effects on the Brain, Body & Behavior
02/10/2014
video, youth, Brain, body, Behavior
Miswiring the brain
01/27/2014

 cannabis use during pregnancy can increase the risk for ill‐behaviors (Goldschmidt et al2004; Day et al2011
Data suggest that administration of THC during pregnancy can induce long‐term structural and functional modifications of the cortical circuitry.
Maternal cannabis use during pregnancy reduces SCG10 in human fetal cerebrum


Brain, Pregnancy
Cannabis Use in Teens Linked to Irreparable Drop in IQ
04/26/2013

"Our results suggest that adolescents are particularly vulnerable to develop cognitive impairment from cannabis and that the drug, far from being harmless, as many teens and even adults are coming to believe, can have severe neurotoxic effects on the adolescent brain,"..


Studies, youth, Brain
Brain Facts- Society of Neuroscience
02/16/2012

In radioactive tracing studies, scientists found that tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient in marijuana, binds to specific receptors called cannabinoid receptors, many of which coordinate movement. This may explain why people who drive after they smoke marijuana are impaired. The hippocampus, a structure involved with memory storage and learning, also contains many receptors for THC. This finding provides some insight into why heavy users or those intoxicated on marijuana have poor short-term memory and problems processing complex information.


Brain, society of neuroscience
The Teen Brain and Marijuana
02/16/2012

Even after controlling for the confounding effect of mental illness symptoms preceding marijuana use, these studies showed an increased risk of developing schizophrenia or mood disorders (depression, anxiety) in adulthood if individuals regularly smoked marijuana during adolescence. The risk was particularly heightened if there was any family history of mental illness (i.e., “genetics provided the loaded gun and marijuana pulled the trigger”). Also, mental illness, among those at risk, tended to show up earlier with marijuana use.
 
 


Brain, mental health, Teen, CEASAR
Heavy Marijuana Use May Damage Developing Brain In Teens, Young Adult
02/03/2009
Teen, Brain
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