Teen Marijuana Use Doesn’t Cause Brain Damage

… but alcohol does.

Today in Medical Daily

Perhaps in response to the legalization of marijuana in Colorado and Washington last month, more teens are lighting up than ever before. However, one study suggests that parents have less to fear from marijuana than from alcohol. The study found that while marijuana had no effect on the health of teenagers’ brain tissue, alcohol did. […]

In addition to the brain scans, the study also required a detailed toxicology report and substance use assessment. The teens also were interviewed every six months. Researchers did not check the teens’ cognitive ability, but simply took brain scans.

The researchers found that, after the year and a half was over, kids who had drank five or more alcoholic beverages twice a week had lost white brain matter. That means that they could have impaired memory, attention, and decision-making into adulthood. The teens that smoked marijuana on a regular basis had no such reduction.

What this study tells us: That we may want to be more concerned about teen use of alcohol than teen use of marijuana.

What this study does not tell us: A damned thing regarding whether either alcohol or marijuana should be legalized or criminalized for adults.

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45 Responses to Teen Marijuana Use Doesn’t Cause Brain Damage

  1. claygooding says:

    It explains why our government has two patents on cannabinoids as neuro-protectants that are decades old.

    Sad that cannabis is the only plant,TMK,that naturally produces the cannabinoids,,if it came from tobacco we’d be fucked.

  2. Duncan20903 says:

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    I don’t believe that research scientists should give advice in strictly political issues. We’ve already got enough of a problem with the prohibasites politicizing research to promote their agenda. To quote Sgt. Joe Friday, “Just the facts mister.”

  3. primus says:

    So, in line with Cliff Claven’s buffalo theory, either the pot makes the alcohol less effective at ‘catching’ the slow brain cells, or it speeds the brain cells up so the alcohol can’t ‘catch’ them.

  4. primus says:

    It is well known that alcohol eats away at the brain of adult drinkers as well. Has there been any research on whether there is some protectant mechanism in adults?

  5. Duncan20903 says:

    I think that perhaps Jerry Brown sent up a test balloon to see which way the wind blows:
    Gavin Newsom: Legalize marijuana

  6. Francis says:

    Kevin Sabet: “The brain damage caused by teen marijuana use is of a type that cannot be detected by conventional brain imaging techniques, making it that much more difficult to diagnose and treat. This study is yet another example of the insidious nature of this dastardly drug and a reminder of why its legalization would be such a terrible mistake. Our children deserve a sensible and evidence-based drug policy that balances prevention, treatment, and law enforcement.”

    • Duncan20903 says:

      Isn’t it amazing how many of the reasons that the prohibitionists present to support maintaining prohibition are supported by invisible evidence that only they can see?

    • Peter says:

      Did he really refer to cannabis a “this dastardly drug?” I can imagine young Kev watching the “insidious” Dick Dastardly on sat morning cartoons and forming this concept of evil in his little mind. Reminds me of another man-child, W, threatening to “smoke out” Osama.
      http://tinyurl.com/cl58bgq

      • darkcycle says:

        I think Francis created that quote, but it certainly sounds authentic.

        • Francis says:

          Yeah, that may have been a paraphrase. 😉

        • Duncan20903 says:

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          I’ve always wondered why we never see Dick Dastardly and Kev-Kev photographed together. Of course it may just be a natural personality conflict between Kev-Kev and Dick Dastardly’s partner Muttley. One can hardly expect Muttley to get along with a yap yap yappy lap dog. Even if they could get along Muttley would give Kev-Kev a much worse inferiority complex.

  7. Servetus says:

    If the alcohol brain damage study is true, then kids in France must be really brain dead, since French children drink small amounts of wine at the dinner table from the time they’re about six-years-old.

    In France, the table wine custom isn’t considered binge drinking. There’s no evidence it induces harm. More likely, it compensates for the richness of French food that might otherwise lead to major heart problems. The UC San Diego study is talking about kids who drink like major party animals, but the news release article is vague on the distinction.

  8. claygooding says:

    The numbers in Mexico just added 20,000 missing to the 60,000 known dead and America is till pissed about 26.

    http://tinyurl.com/dypmdg9

    Mexico drug war leaves 20,000 missing: report

    Young people between the ages of 10 and 17 account for about a third of those who disappeared. About one-quarter of the victims were between the ages of 18 and 30.

  9. allan says:

    OT… RIP – Lee Dorman, 70, bass player for Iron Butterfly

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIVe-rZBcm4

    Over the hills and thru the woods (literally) to sis’ house. Y’all enjoy.

  10. ezrydn says:

    Even with those stats, Clay, I can honestly say I feel safer here than there.

    • Peter says:

      At least some media are now trying to make the public aware of the “collateral damage” of the drug war on individuals. Even if it were true what the idiots tell us that “no one goes to jail/prison for cannabis” they conveniently ignore the often far greater penalties suffered for a lifetime as the result of a “felony drug” conviction: social service removal of children, no public housing, ban on most professional and government jobs (in many cases ALL jobs) immigration rights, deportation, forfeiture of property, refusal of medical treatment (the VA, and card qualification in MMJ states), ineligibility for student loans, disenfranchisement in many states and so much more. And I repeat, these penalties are for life.

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  12. Duncan20903 says:

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    I-502 and Amendment 64 were analyzed by David Letterman. Video of Letterman interview is available using the same link.

    Notice: I didn’t watch the interview so for all I know Mr. Letterman fell into line and started goose stepping and sieg heiling.

    • Duncan20903 says:

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      Well I decided to watch it and I’d say it’s worth watching. Mr. Letterman acknowledges that decades ago he would enjoy cannabis from time to time. At one point he asks how much a lid would cost nowadays.

      Who the heck is Seth Rogen?

      • claygooding says:

        He looks like the guy in Pineapple Express.

        • Windy says:

          He is the guy in Pineapple Express.

          Duncan, I haven’t heard the term “lid” used for bag of pot for a very long time, not since it began to cost as much for an eighth as it used to cost for a “lid” (about 3/4 of an oz. — four fingers high in a sandwich bag).

  13. Byddaf yn egluro: says:

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    “Nevada needs the money that would come from taxing marijuana. It needs the money bad! I worked a narcotics desk in LA for many years. There is probably more recreational marijuana use that takes place in Las Vegas than any other city in the United States. Walk through the hallways of any casino in town and you will smell marijuana.

    Much of the drug money ends up in Mexico.That money facilitates unbelievable violence which spills back into the United States.

    The Sinaloan drug cartel is operated by a guy named “Chapo” Guzman. It’s estimated he employs 500,000 people world wide, making him one of the world’s biggest employers. He employs thousands in the United States. Vast amounts of his wealth come from marijuana.

    Americans love ethical pharmaceuticals with 4 billion prescriptions written a year. We are also the world’s largest consumer of illicit recreational drugs. Americans are going to get their drugs whether we like it or not. The government might as well get some money out of it.

    The letter writer is correct. Substance abuse kills about 900,000 people year according to the American Medical Association. That’s life in America.

    By zippert1 (gerry hageman)

  14. darkcycle says:

    Marijuana may not cause brain damage, but us old codgers must be getting senile. Here we are, thanksgiving has come and gone, and it’s almost Christmas. And NOBODY remembered to share the “turkey drop” from WKRP. So. Here it is, just in case like me, you can’t stand not to:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST01bZJPuE0

  15. claygooding says:

    I really think there are state legislators discussing over their gin and tonic,the possible taxes and benefits from legalization.

    I predict at least 1 bill for legalization submitted within 2 weeks of state legislators going back to work after the holidays.

    http://tinyurl.com/crnqush

  16. M McL says:

    So Im a failure for another reason other than weed?

    • Duncan20903 says:

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      Well at least you know what time it is. But you are in the wrong place if you really want to assert that cannabis makes a person a failure. Here’s a link to some clowns who you will likely find amusing: send in the clowns

      They’re not funny clowns. They’re not happy clowns. So don’t go expecting any laughs because at the end of the day it’s not hard to see that they’re sad, pathetic clowns and none too bright.

  17. claygooding says:

    Does anyone know if you press 5 lbs of hemp seeds and extracted the oil is it flammable?

    • Duncan20903 says:

      It would be awfully hard to use it to run a diesel engine if it wasn’t.

      • claygooding says:

        I realize that,it is why I asked,,a tv ad squeezing 5lbs and setting it in fire while explaining “This is why hemp is prohibited and has nothing to do with people getting high” would be an effective message. A picture is worth a thousand words.

  18. claygooding says:

    The Best Of Jon Stewart’s 2012 ‘Daily Show’ Coverage

    http://tinyurl.com/csqnpmr

    “”With a lengthy presidential election and countless hours of cable news coverage about it, Jon Stewart had more than enough material to work with in 2012.

    Throughout the year, Stewart’s signature takedowns of political and media figures continued to inform and entertain viewers of all ages, from the generation who gets their news after watching “South Park” to””

    Go past the ads,,more good stuff folows

  19. claygooding says:

    Parsing Obama’s Words on Legalizing Marijuana

    http://tinyurl.com/bs4xba3

    “”That is why the letter sent last week by Senator Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to drug czar Gil Kerlikowske is especially significant. “What assurance can and will the administration give to state officials involved in the licensing of marijuana retailers that they will not face Federal criminal penalties for carrying out duties assigned to them under state law?” he asked, and then stated that “legislative options exist to resolve the differences between federal and state law in this area and end the uncertainty that residents of Colorado and Washington now face.”” “snip”

    Don’t recall seeing this,,don’t like to miss anything Nadelmann says and I want to see him debate Frum and Sabet soooooo bad.

  20. Deep Dish says:

    I just read the funniest, most hysterical, pathetic statement of the year:

    @TransformDrugs @davidfrum More important to define policies explicitly.& explicitly, legalization would be a disastrous, irreversible move.

    “Irreversible?” Irreversible only in the sense that people will never want to go back to criminalization! Your world is ending in an apocalypse, Kev Kev. You don’t even get the decency of a rapture.

    • claygooding says:

      The prohibs get to hang around and watch their lies and fear mongering wash down the sewer it came out of.
      We will know when the funding for their services are no longer required,,we won’t hear from them again,

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