Does marijuana harm the brain?

Marijuana has been the most widely used illicet drug since 1970 in North
America. The naturally occuring plant has been engineered over the years
to create various versions that trigger our brain perceptions
differently. But weather natural or engineered, Marijuana produces
harmful effects on the brain that has not been studied widely over long
period of consumption.

The research on Marijuanas effects on brain has been very limited in

North America. Especially the study of these effects over long period of
time. The drug has been demonized for decades but is finding its roots
in various sections of the modern society especially for its medicinal
properties. The discussion of harmful effects of marijuana takes a
drastic turn when its medicinal properties are brought into the light.
Several medical conditions can be easily treated by marijuana, yet it is
deemed very toxic and infavorable for human consumption.

Due to these irregularities in the image of this drug, it is very

important to study the effects of Marijuana on human health, not just in
short term but also long term. This reports sheds some light on the
research done with Marijuana in the past with main focus being on the
effects on human brain. When its medicinal effects studied side by side
with the unfavourable or harmful effects, it shall create a much clearer
perception of the drugs as well as help determine the difference between
the effects due to drugs and drug abuse.

1. Smoking Cannabis has been studied for short time period on several
occassions and has been proven to have effects on the way brain
functions after its used.Smoking Cannabis decreases the brain

PET(Postitron emission tomography) count. The scans from the

brain showed decreases in the whole brains PET count along
with increase in heart rate and blood pressure.
1

2. Participants also showed increased rCBF(regional cerebral

blood flow) readings from the brain after smoking
Cannabis, the prominent increase was in anterior cingulate,
mesial and orbital frontal lobes, insula,
temporal poles, and
cerebellum. All these parts showed
increased
glucose
metabolism.1.

3. Marajuana users also showed greater usage of brain regions

typically activated by increasing attentional load. It
also led to the use of altered brain activation network in
cannabis users in which increase in the use of
compensatory regions was seen.2

A significant population today supports use of Cannabis, there

have been several studies which help their claim of Cannabis
being healthy and if used for right reasons and in controlled
manner does not affect human brain in a harmful manner. Most of
the studies show unconclusive data regarding the harmful effects
of Cannabis on the brain especially in a long term effect.

2. Although

smoking Cannabis resulted in intoxication, and

significantly changed PET counts of the brain, behavioral
performances were not significantly altered. Various tasks
were given to Cannabis users that required stable attention
mentally and physically, were performed in almost the same
fashion as a non-cannabis user. Even though this will
conflict the research done by in past in 1984, 1986 by Block
and Wittenborn and Solowij in 1998. 1

3. The fact that behavioral performances were not significantly

changed after smoking marajuana in the present study
indicates that the increase in rCBF was not a consequence of
inattention and poor performance. So the brain even though
had different rCBF readings, continued to work in the same
manner as in a non cannabis user. 1 But this whole research
comes under a red light when it is compared with another
research published in 2008 which shows exact opposite
results and showed decrease in rCBF as well as decreased
glucose metabolism. Even though both the reaserches showed
similar results when it came to normal congnitive functions.
2

4. The Cannabis users showed different networking for brain and

activated different areas of brain for normal tasks. This
gives a conclusion that the brain has a neuroadaptation
capability to cannabis. Due to this even a cannabis user
works in the same manner as a non-cannabis user.2 The
different networking in brain and activation of different

regions of brain could also suggest potential mechanisms for

recreational drugs to interfere with higher-order network
interactions generating concious experience.3

Comparing the positive side and negative side in case of cannbis

is like walking on the edge of a knife. Several researches
showing opossite data is something that makes this inconclusive.

5. Lower PET values would suggest that cannabis is affecting

the brain in a harmful way, but yet no significant changes
are seen in a human behaviour, and any research that has
been done for a long term has concluded results which are
inconclusive, weather due to limitations of technology or
participants or several other reason.4

6. The

change in regional cerebral blood flow remains

unconcluded as different researches have complete opposite
datas. 1 2
Eevnthough the result in behavioral patterns
remains the same in both the researches, it will need a long
term study with multiple readings to figure out if these
readings are different in every person or is there any other
factor maniupulating these readings.

7. Cannabis users use more compensatory regions of their brain

and also a different networking takes place when sending
signals in their brain, one could conclude that it is
unfavourable but again it had no effects in the way the
cannabis users behave. And there are no studies available
that could show if long term this pattern is actually
harmful.

Conclusion:
Most of the researches found on cannabis effects today are
inconclusive. And most of the researches that provide a
conclusive result have an opposition from another research with
complete opposite results. The fact that most of the researches
does not provide you with any implications of their data is
something that is unscientific. For an example, if one is told
that earth is rotating, such a statement would mean nothing
unless told that this rotation is what produces gravity and daynight cycle. Similarly when research on Cannabis just provides
datas and readings from a short study, and trying to conclude if

mrajuana is healthy or not based on those data, without realizing

real life implications of those changes is unscientific. Being a
sensitive topic politically, the researchers should provide a
declaration with their reason of interest in the study, so to
have a neutral research.
Due to the various conflicting research studies and limited data
available as per implications of changes due to marajuana, this
short research stays inconclusive to the question if cannabis
harms the brain. It is strongly requested to the scientific
community to have more long term cannabis use researches, so that
the effects of this naturally existing plant could be categorized
in a better way. Most of studies today seem polarized, either
concluding or expecting results from the begining, hence more
neutral research needs to be done to understand the implications
cannabis has on human brain in conjunction to everyday life
experiences.

References:

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reorganizedvisualattentionnetworkandcerebellarhypoactivation.Brain129,1096
1112,May2006.
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2014.
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