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Nov 19, 2008 06:09 PM | 66
A large-scale study released this week showed that the herb gingko biloba has no effect in preventing dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. But alternative medicine aficionados may find hope in a new research touting the bennies of another "herb" in preserving memory.
Scientists from Ohio State University report that marijuana, contrary to the conventional wisdom, may help ward off Alzheimer's and keep recall sharp. Their findings, released today at the Society for Neuroscience meeting in Washington D.C.: chemical components of marijuana reduce inflammation and stimulate the production of new brain cells, thereby enhancing memory.
The team suggested that a drug could be formulated that would resemble tetrahydroannibol, or THC, the psychoactive ingredient in pot sans making the user high. But the research may ultimately drive those who fear impending dementia to roll their own solution to the problem.
Study co-author Gary Wenk, a professor of psychology, had already devised a preliminary version of a THC-like synthetic drug that improves memory in lab animals. His team at the meeting said that it works by activating at least three receptors in the brain targeted by THC—proteins on the surface of nerve cells that then trigger cellular processes resulting in reduced inflammation and production of new brain cells that can boost recall. Understanding how the compounds work may pave the way for a pharmaceutical company to prepare its own med for human clinical trials.
The researchers ducked the obvious question of whether it might be simpler, faster and cheaper to simply light up a joint. “Could people smoke marijuana to prevent Alzheimer’s disease if the disease is in their family?" Wenk said in a statement. "We’re not saying that, but it might actually work.”
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66 Comments
Add CommentWhat Downside ?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think the study just goes to show that the benefits of marijuana are hugely overshadowed by its potential dangers. now, i'm not saying that isn't the potential to abuse marijuana - i have met some pretty heavy potheads that can't remember the conversation they had 15 seconds ago. but, in my opinion, if you're intelligent and reasonable about your use, it's not all that dangerous, and apparently it helps stave off dementia.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisp.s. just in case i'm accused of being a raving pothead straight from erowid.com, i've never had a drug in my life [: all i'm asking for is some rationality.
I believe the psychoactive "ingredient" in Marijuana is TETRAHYROCANNIBINOL not TETRAHYDROANNIBOL...Maybe the author Gary Stix has been sampling some "Thai Stix" for research on this story!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisvalid point. where i believe more research does need to be done, i am unsure of them making thc like compounds (compounds that only have a few characteristics in common) and saying thc does the same thing as thc, when they havent tested the other components of thc.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thiswith that said, i comepletly agree with .erika.
while i have had a drug in my life, more than one, more than once, I am sure of the effects you see 'caused' by this drug can't be blamed solely on the drug. I have seen many people with a case of the "uhhhs" as well as many people using the drug for insight and enjoyment. We all know the downfall of alcohol and the benefits. Smart people drink, and so do stupid people. When Timothy Leary takes LSD and a highschool dropout takes LSD, you get different outcomes. This is the case with marijuana as well, maybe it just gravitates to people with no jobs...
Thank you ! pot has many wonderful attributes! When are that powers that be going to recognize this fact and legalize it ? Pain sufferers use pot worldwide because they know it works! The same can be said for those with digestive problems, people that have trouble eating...pot gives them an appetite! It's all natural without the mariad of side effects always found in medications! Who's with me, legalize it!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis topic always brings out some silliness from both sides.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI hardly see this news resulting in a whole new generation of "reefer madness" realized. People who like to smoke marijuana will continue to do so. People who fear it or buy into this fear, like a few in this thread, will continue to not. Some don't react to the THC, and just don't like breathing smoke, etc...
I've got to say, when I was young I had the same idea some of you have, about "those" people who smoke it, thanks to the burlap/hemp wearing, smelly, hairy, unmotivated, doddering-music-listening kids in high school. Then I grew up, and over the years discovered I had a pretty limited view of things. Co-workers, bosses, girlfriends, even acquaintances... hundreds of people holding high level professional and civic positions, from investors, IT managers and businessmen, to everyone in the DA's office of our fairly major metropolitan city, to Mayors to State Troopers and a group of Surgeons, etc... and everyone in between, have offered me a smoke. I am always intrigued by peoples wild reactions to the subject, and have had hundreds of conversations with people about it over the years. For some, it's a once a year treat, for others, it's six times a day. You'd never know it by talking to most people, until they're standing there at your party lighting up on the veranda. It's really quite something.
As for the living dead, if you ask them, you'll usually find that they've done a lot more than marijuana, and have or had some pretty serious self-destructive habits behind the gaze. Of course, like any medicine, it seems to affect a few on each end of the spectrum differently. A few are hit hard fairly quickly, and a few, like myself, are immune, when some part of the THC reaction never happens, and we get nothing more than hot lips, and give up trying.
But, it could be an interesting experiment in marketing. Pills to pump our bodies full of the same chemicals, but artificially, and lab-formulated, without making people actually enjoy it. Perhaps we can follow it up with a cloning service marketed as a means to make more babies while avoiding all that tedious muddling around with sex. I predict a smashing success!
Silliness!
Anyone have a light ?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhat? Blissfulness without the direct intersession of the imagineary divine being? I'm not sure we can have that in our superstitious and nervous society. Oh, they're figuring out how to remove the part that makes the user euphoric? Oh well, then the pharmaceutical industry can again make it safe for the rest of us worker bees...quit your laughing over there!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMore research is always the plan as knowledge is advanced in any area. Let's not confuse unsupported, and obviously biased, opinion with science. Cite the correlation that supports the statement that, "people who smoke pot also perhaps take a long time to reply to a question..." Where is the evidence that pot smokers make, "an "uhhh" noise while they are thinking about it?" What are the, "downsides of the unrefined "herb?" What is becoming obvious is "pot" is showing great promise in the prevention of Alzheimer's.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhat downside?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhat downside?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhoops. Sorry for the doobie - I mean double - entry.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHaven't you all heard........
Marijuana is a Schedule I drug which has no medical/medicinal value. Somebody needs to redo the study. Gotta be the placebo effect. Again, Uncle Sam has spoken. Pot has no medicinal value.
On a serious note, it's good to see that commenters here and Scientific American are capable of independent thought. I'm surprised that "Accuracy in Media" or some other Government funded/affiliated group hasn't shut you up.
I'm also surprised that if pot has no medicinal value, that so many big names in pharmaceuticals are sponsoring the International Cannabinoid Research Society ( www.cannabinoidsociety.org ) .
Maybe it's like opium. If you smoke it, it has no medicinal value. No pain relief or somnolence for those that smoke opium. Only once it's broken down into its constituent pharmacologicals is there any benefit. Yeah right.
It's WAY past time for laws to reflect the realities, recreationally and medicinally, of marijuana.
I agree with hotblack on the matters of extremist on both sides of the issue, that happens when you get two sides that oppose eachother hard.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs far as the medicinal value of marijuana and THC in general, all thourough research and evidence has shown THC to be a safe and sometimes very usefull compound; The only negative thing to be said of marijuana is it usually contains about 1.5-2 times the "tar" compared to tobacco, which when properly smoked can be filtered out (especially with a bong or vaporizer).
However, on the note of tobacco, marijuana is considerably more "safer" and effective herb than tobacco. Nicotine, or 3-[(2S)-1-methylpyrrolidin-2-yl]pyridine, is an insecticide and highly addictive compound that has no real benificial effects, not even'calming the nervs' given the long term health risks associated with chemical reaction that causes it; in short it doesnt even stand up against THC in terms of medicinal or psychological value.
The stigma around marijuana is purely political, and not factual. At this day over 25 of the worlds leading countries, and all of the G8 except the US, are legalizing OR subsituting* possesion/ cultivation laws. every single country in the EU, including france, has some sort of 'decriminalized' or 'sanctioned' possesion law...enabling such things as "hash bars" where you can legally purchase and smoke marijuana/THC, without a liscense, but it is illegal to posess/use/trade outside of said establishment. (the Orient countries typically hold it illegal but are mostly persuaded by political pressure from our "war on drugs".)
Furthermore the "pothead" effect of people with bad memory and low intelligence is purely a cultural flaw, and only 'typical' of the united states.
Bottom Line:
Tobacco Is addictive, carcinogenic, an insecticide, and has no known medicinal uses, However it is a cultural standard and industry lobbies heavy to lawmakers.
Marijuana Is not chemicaly addicting, not known as a biotoxin, has a variety of medicinal uses, and is shrowded in a cultural and political stigma, much of which originated in the "war on drugs" (of which the tobacco industry lobbied heavily for prior-to)
Worth noting: The UK has passed legislation allowing hash bars but outside of said establishments it is Illegal to posses/trade/cultivate marijuana on grounds of compromise, as the UK is also overcoming cultural misunderstanding of marijuana and kept THC based substances illegal to suffice the older cultural standard as well as providing the jumpstart nessicary for a legitimate marijuana industry to compete with the black market (they also have a very high tax on such sales).
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThere are a couple of additional things I'd like to comment on. I think the latter merits further research. Both things are based on years of personal experience and observation, but both are also based on perception, which can be misleading.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFirst of all, the "uhh" comment related to observed/apparent short-term memory problems is possibly misleading. Pot can act as a stimulant, with ones mind and thoughts racing after smoking it. Rather than a memory problem, I think it may be due to what one experiences when normally bombarded by things. It's hard to recall some of them when experiencing so many. Maybe the mind isn't racing though. Maybe it's perception, and the perception of time is altered rather than the actual number of thoughts in a given time period.
The interesting thing is related to what many users have noticed. Sensory perception is heightened. Colors seem brighter, foods taste better, music sounds better etc. It's no wonder that people like to listen to music and munch while under the influence. Those aren't the sensory perceptions I wrote to address though. Lets talk about sex. I'm no Charlie Harper (Two and a Half Men), but the vast majority of women I've known that used marijuana say that it greatly enhances pleasurable sensations and the intensity of orgasms.
Unlike alcohol though, and contrary to what the ONDCP put out in commercials a few years ago, it doesn't negatively effect judgment. You won't wake up wondering why you're with whoever and wondering what exactly you did. I also haven't heard that it increases desire, so I wouldn't call it an aphrodisiac. Just a powerful experience enhancer. Still, there are women getting expensive g-spot injections to do almost the same thing that wear off after a month or so. Pot effects pleasurable sensations of all the erogenous zones, not just the g-spot, and those injections don't cause more intense orgasms(?).
I miss my subscription to Scientific American. It seems like the April 2007 issue had a similar article about marijuana from the Scripps Research Institute.
Thanks for this report Scientific American!!
The fact that THC increases production of new brain cells does not refute "conventional wisdom," which is based on misconceptions (personal experience) from all sides. The long term effects are not understood as well as they could be if modern techniques were utilized. Alcohol destroys brain cells and is legal. Marijuana affects short term (and now long term) memory in ways which are not fully understood. After reading this I now think that both THC and stem cells will help or prevent neurological disorders.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisi believe it. It's probably a lot healthier too, plus many prescription drugs can be harmful and addictive.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWTF !,i keep hearing about all these positive effects marijuana has that clearly out way the risks yet it seems as if it will never be legal to purchase it and smoke it. This is it,either the government makes it assessable for legal adults to purchase marijuana or they can keep losing money to drug dealers.All it takes is adding one letter,M, ATMF,alcohol tobacco marijuana and firearms period...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou think the governmant is losing money with marijuana being illegal? when they seize between 2-10 million dollars of money from marijuana traffickers every couple of months here in San Antonio, a smuggling hub of south texas, that money goes to the Feds, and thats not counting the money from other drugs. Plus they charge civilians huge fines for possession or 'intent to distribute'. In other countries where marijuana is a legal industry, the price drops to next to nothing. Black markets exist cause the payout is better than the risk, so they keep prices high. If marijuana or hash bars were legal in the US, the Federal Government would lose not just millions, but several billion dollars/ year, given that LA, NY,Chicago,Detroit,Miami, ect alone sieze more drug money in a month than San antonio does in a year. Not to say the Federal government keeps it illegal for that purpose, there is no evidence of that, but they certainly dont mind the profits. In 1989 Rayfull edmond, a cocaine dealer, made 200 million USD in one month, they seized almost a billion dollars from him alone when they arrested him. 200Mil In small bills might I add, in addition to his assets.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIn the end, between cultural stigma and so much extra "pocket change" for the Federal budget Medical marijuana (as the organic flora) will not likely become th legal practice especially since the synthetic THC's, Marinol among the big three, could potentially make the pharmaceutical industry many billions if THC is to be used for treatment of alzhiemers.
Hahahaha, all those old people so heavily against marijuana are going to be ingeting it like its air in the near future.
It's time to legalize it. This evil prohibition must come to an end or you MUST outlaw alcohol. See History of Alcohol prohibition: http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/LIBRARY/studies/nc/nc2a.htm
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI've often thought that those I know who smoke pot seem to be a lot smarter than me.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisLogically it would follow that THC which has shown demonstrated capability to block receptors critical to memory could also have low level activities on other receptors at different doses. Like any neurochemical or enzyme the efficacy of the treatment is in the dose. The only thing new about what this study reveals is that THC (assuming that is the active chemical in promoting memory which is not at all determined by the study) may aid memory retention before in higher doses it starts to kill it (as most studies clearly show).
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFurther work needs to be done to determine the point of transition in dosage, to target the specific aspect of the chemical that is advantageous for some receptors and detrimental for others and to possibly synthesize new chemicals that work without a dosage linked efficacy.
Logically it would follow that THC which has shown demonstrated capability to block receptors critical to memory could also have low level activities on other receptors at different doses. Like any neurochemical or enzyme the efficacy of the treatment is in the dose. The only thing new about what this study reveals is that THC (assuming that is the active chemical in promoting memory which is not at all determined by the study) may aid memory retention before in higher doses it starts to kill it (as most studies clearly show).
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFurther work needs to be done to determine the point of transition in dosage, to target the specific aspect of the chemical that is advantageous for some receptors and detrimental for others and to possibly synthesize new chemicals that work without a dosage linked efficacy.
tetra hydra cannibinol or THC...has now been shown to improve the alertness of journalists as well. Also for hot black, you are not immune, you just need to try harder.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisUhhh, this just in, THC or tetrahydracannibinol can also help improve the vocabulary of late night journalists! for hotblack unless your brain doesn't have any seratonin receptors you are not immune, for many people it takes a couple of times to affect them, or, so I have heard...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTHC like any other psycoactive compound (ethanol for expample) has a wide range of effects that depend very much on the brain structure and chemistry of the individual. In addition to that in raw 'herb' there are no doubt a wide range of other compunds that assist in the effect. This is true of any raw plant product. If you doubt ask a regular coffee drinker if she gets the same reaction from a can of soda that she gets from a cup of coffee. Even though the amounts of caffeine may be similar the effect is different because of the assisting compounds. I think it is silly to dismiss the medicinal properties of Marijuana out of hand because of unfortunate side effects from it's over-use (which in most cases are quite a bit less severe than the consequences of other more widely accepted psychoactive compunds such as ethanol. No one has died of the DTs on Marijuana)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOn a side note: Everyone makes typos occasionally, even Scientific American writers. Chill.
Alcohol does the same thing. Any sedative effect has shown to grow brain cells including sex. This helps memory.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSurprised no one has mentioned Carl Sagan, lol.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisReally, to understand why pot was made illegal in the first place, you'd have to delve back into the era. One could point to Dupont and see it as classic Standard Oil-type, Gilded-Age Market manipulation to favor synthetic fiber. One could point to Harry Anslinger and Congress to make a quick and glaringly poignant argument for labeling the prohibition itself as a racial hate-crime at the height of Jim Crow. (read some of Anslinger's comments to Congress and the media for yourself sometime...)
Still, one must go even further to understand the popular sentiments and philosophical quackery of the day that enabled it to happen. Behaviorism, Eugenics, and a host of other junk-'science' and the grossly misunderstood implications of Darwinism and the misguided conclusions & nefarious opportunities that presented. The end of the Victorian Era was still within living memory, World War I had just been fought, alchohol Prohibition was the rule of the day, and a still very much stratified Class Society, popular and avante garde thought was dominated by thinkers like, inter alia, Herbert Spencer and H.G. Wells along with the likes of Freud, Neitszche, Marx & Engells. The effects of the Great Depression was helping to drive the re-invention of the Nanny-State, Parens Patria, where the feeding-frenzy to gain 'control' every aspect of life & liberty from the National to the genetic level was palpable throughout the Culture. Stalinist Russia and Germany's Third Way Socialism and a plethora of novel "-isms" that [then-as-always] all looked better on paper than with a gun to your head, transformed all of that into a global contest...
There are so many inter-related reasons for marijuana/hemp being turned from one of the bedrock staples of the economy into the bastard redheaded step-child of Public Policy, way many more than I have touched on here, and they were by-and-large ALL a load of readily-identifiable crap.
It still is.
It is very interesting to me that this article says that marijuana stimulates the production of new brain cells. I was under the impression that, while new pathways are formed, new cells are not. If these researchers have found a way to actually form new cells, then it would be absolutely criminal to continue to ban the use of marijuana! If it really stimulates the production of new brain cells, it has great potential to cure damage from strokes and other brain injuries!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNow the next step will be to do clinical trials that determine the amount of time that a person is intoxicated based on the amount of cannabis that they have consumed. Reason being is that it would not be particularly safe to drive while under the influence of marijuana (albeit, the driver would be driving much slower than a drunk driver :). So, they need to find out how long a person stays high and then they need to find a good test to determine if someone is high for the police in case they want to test people they've pulled over.
Other than all that, LEGALIZE IT and if they must, tax it and get rid of this nasty debt that our government presently finds themselves in!!! Good for everyone!!! As a pre-med student, I believe that marijuana should be unconditionally legalized for it is much healthier to the human body than tobacco and alcohol.
They say that DNA is shaped in a helical form like rope, so the first representation man made that resembled the ties that bind humanity together came from the community effort to grow plants that would benefit the construction of civilization. Could be more research is needed. But thankfully people like Barney Frank and Ron Paul are prepared to allow the research to proceed with bills H.R. 5842 and H.R. 5843 in the U.S. Congress. This could be the reason the people in this country of euROPEan descent don't want the darker peoples from using Spanish words like marijuana it would screw up our whole legal system if it had to be done in Spanish too. Uhhh is a phrase often muttered by people lost in thoughts too complex to put into words, as well. There are over 340 references to making burnt offerings to the Lord in the King James Bible. And the whole book is leading up to an event called the rapture: you say it's so much stronger now than it used to be, makes it more dangerous. But why would getting more of what you want and less of what you don't be more dangerous, especially if it helps you smoke less. I've got my prescription, check the Norml website to see the whole list of benefits. In California they'll deliver it to your door like pizza. Now if you could get it more bacon flavored and cooked onto your pizza so you don't have to smoke it at all, the lungs wouldn't even be involved. And the seeds can be squeezed into a much better smelling form of diesal fuel without all those refineries. Hemp paper or plastic?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThey say that DNA is shaped in a helical form like rope, so the first representation man made that resembled the ties that bind humanity together came from the community effort to grow plants that would benefit the construction of civilization. Could be more research is needed. But thankfully people like Barney Frank and Ron Paul are prepared to allow the research to proceed with bills H.R. 5842 and H.R. 5843 in the U.S. Congress. This could be the reason the people in this country of euROPEan descent don't want the darker peoples from using Spanish words like marijuana it would screw up our whole legal system if it had to be done in Spanish too. Uhhh is a phrase often muttered by people lost in thoughts too complex to put into words, as well. There are over 340 references to making burnt offerings to the Lord in the King James Bible. And the whole book is leading up to an event called the rapture: you say it's so much stronger now than it used to be, makes it more dangerous. But why would getting more of what you want and less of what you don't be more dangerous, especially if it helps you smoke less. I've got my prescription, check the Norml website to see the whole list of benefits. In California they'll deliver it to your door like pizza. Now if you could get it more bacon flavored and cooked onto your pizza so you don't have to smoke it at all, the lungs wouldn't even be involved. And the seeds can be squeezed into a much better smelling form of diesal fuel without all those refineries. Hemp paper or plastic?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThey also say that DNA is a helical shape sort of like rope. Interesting how the plant that brought farmers together to construct civilization was also beneficial to their minds. This could explain why people of euROPEan descent try so hard to keep it out of the hands of people who speak Spanish here in the United States. If we substituted a Spanish word like marijuana for the English word hemp we might have to allow the whole Spanish language into the United States as well. Maybe even other languages and immigrants too. Pretty soon people would find out they could make a better smelling form of diesal fuel simply by squeezing the seeds without a refinery. And we might start to cultivate our own rain forest in desolate areas right here in the U.S. instead of telling people in other countries what to do with their land. Hemp paper or plastic? Any one notice that all those great works of art still hanging around owe their longevity to that great hemp canvas, and the paints made from hempseed oil? Uhhh I guess I'm just a dreamer, or I could be thinking about things that you couldn't understand, even if I tried to explain them to you!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHey WOW man,,, uhh like where do I get in line for this "further research necessary Part"?.....dude
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHey WOW man ,,, like where do I get in line for this "further research necessary part"?... dude
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWell, first off i must say as a cannabis enthusiast i have always lobbied that this sacred and often medicinal herb be legalized. There are far more practical uses for the substance than popular culture and the government would like us to know about. But to stay on topic, I am very interested to see what this new research yeilds as it has always been a common missconception that pot makes you stupid. Hooray for new research!!!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt amazes me when the response to a new idea that just may help to stave off a debilitating, costly and heartbreaking disease like Alzheimer's is greeted with such negative reactions, just because it is marijuana that could be of benefit. What is it about this herb that stirs up such fear and distain, when it can actually benefit humans in a myriad of ways? People are so proud and self righteous about never having tried a drug for recreational use. That is just as strange to me as those who pride themselves for using drugs. The puritanical underpinnings of our American culture astound me in the face of documented and anecdotal evidence to the benefits of marijuana use. Our country is suffering from one of the worst financial debacles in it's history. Legalization of marijuana could bring in useful revenue as does alcohol and tobacco (both of which do much more harm to our society than pot), as well as benefit cancer patients, AIDS patients, Glaucoma and pain sufferers and now maybe even Alzheimer's, but God forbid... there may also be people enjoying themselves. Sure there needs to be more research, but if I didn't have to have a drug test for my work, I'd use it just in case it might help. Wake up and smell the smoke America!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNot certain what was meant by the 'spanish' reference, other than to recent history alone.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCannabis/hashish has been refined and used medicinally, religiously and no doubt recreationally by humans from time immemorial (evidence of already-established use from like 7000BC I believe) long before there even were any people identified as 'spanish', and long before hemp was introduced to the New World.
they might take a long time but they can still RESPOND to the question, rather than asking the same question over and over
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisthe point is it would be nice if they can still RESPOND to a question even if it takes longer, rather than asking the same question over and over
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishaha case in point. sorry this was my first post - did not get a confirmation - maybe i should start with the treatment NOW
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAlzheimers is a disease that consists of motor dysfunction, memory loss, vision loss, tremors, restlessness etc.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHow does smoking marijuana help all the symptoms? It can improve eye vision, but what else can it do?
this is coming from a nursing student.
How does smoking marijuana help Alzheimer? Alzheimer's Disease, also known as Alzheimer Dementia, is the disease of memory loss, uncontrollable tremors, restlessness, vision problems etc.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSmoking marijuana may help eye sight but nothing else.
I'm a nursing student by the way.
please do more research because we cannot trust this for now. this is because am scared of my nigerian brothers that live on this stuff(marijuanna) if they see this they will grow marijuana in their living room.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWell, thats part of the rub, is it not?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf everyone could grow their personal in their own living room or garden;
The price of the stuff would plummet, the dealers/gangs/cartels would lose a major part of their business, our police could concentrate on real crime & real criminals, our highest-per-capita prison population would sharply decline, our forests and back-country would be safer for families & children to explore & enjoy, Free People would have the Liberty to do what they choose to do in the Privacy of their own homes, etc etc etc, ad infinitum.
Mysterious Drifter-
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs a nursing student perhaps you can appreciate this;
If the stats hold true for last year as they have for, well, EVER, marijuana was responsible for something very close to ZERO deaths last year.
On the other hand, going by statistics, preventable medical mistakes again claimed the lives of well over 100,000 innocent people in the US alone during that same time, and countless more endured unnecessary suffering & damage. (and most all of them were [over-] billed for it... )
What this science article didn't say is how this works. The hippocampus is responsible for forming long-term memory. The body makes its own THC-like molecules called endocannibinoids. These chemicals bind to the same receptors as THC only they are naturally produced and even released in bovine and human maternal milk. Why? We know that cannibinoids, both body-made and exocannibinoids like MJ are neural progenitors in the hippocampus. This facilitates learning and curiousity, helping the brain to make new permanent neural connections. It also helps regulate gastrointestinal function. Is this why nature gives babies it's own THC? I think this serves as proof that Sagan was right about the insights we have from MJ being real.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMysterious Drifter- As a nursing student you should know that cannibinoids are also produced in bovine and maternal milk. Why? I think it is for the same reason it is beneficial to delay the onset of Alzheimer's. Cannibinoids facilitate new neural connections- in neurology it is called a neural progenitor. It helps people form long-term memories in the hippocampus. Please research endocannibinoids, the body's natural THC, to learn more.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisS.A. has been my homescreen for over five years. In the last year or two it has changed to have a bit more of a tabloid style of writing that leaves obvious questions to a subject unanswered and lingering (new Managing Editor?). Anyway, I still love it, but it doesn't have the rational and fully informed voice it use to have. PoT and Memory: when "lighting up" one cannot have a controlled amount. I wonder if too much negates the positive affect like too much oil in your car. And I think that the lessening oxygen that happens when smoking does the same. I get paranoid when I smoke pot, but if I cook it, I go into a very relaxed state of rumination . . .but my ruminations do tend to weave this way and that way. I can see where a controlled amount of THC can produce the needed proteins. If I smoke just the right amount (usually under three hits from a cigarette laced with pot) I will be put into a state economical and productive (often profound) thoughts that greatly supports my art and work, but too much????? I'm like, "Uhhh, dude!"
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTpopp- Most anyone can self-regulate as you have, opting for the productive head-change rather than outright stupor. Even then, the most common chain of events (from smoking) begins with a euphoria that generally lasts only 30-45 minutes, followed by 3-4 hours of a more relaxed and I dare sya more creative/lucid state. (Certainly not the case for 100% of people, but most) Your prefererred method is most likely what is bypassing that initial state which you do not enjoy.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this'Paranoia' can come from many directions. In my younger years, I always attributed that to two things. One; a natural caution to counter-act that initial euphoria. Two; A learned reaction to the social/legal implications, ie, if tube socks were made illegal tomorrow and people were castigated and sent off to jail for it, within a short time one could empirically attribute paranoia as a side-effect of tube socks. In cultures and countries where it is used sans stigma, I suspect that paranoia is hardly the issue it is here.
I would not however, try to extrapolate that into a general Rule. There are indeed some drugs that do appear to make people absurdly paranoid, I just don't happen to think mj is one of them.
"hugely overshadowed by its potential dangers. " Huh? What dangers? That attitude keeps good studies on the chemicals involved... in the dark ages. Look up the word 'danger.' I'm not a user -- gave it a good try, over 30 years ago! Didn't ever like it. What bothers me is that there are people who would put other people in JAIL for using a psychoactive drug. Have you seen a jail? Go visit someone in jail. It is awful! What kind of person would advocate putting a fellow citizen in JAIL? What kind of jerk wants that fate for someone because of what? Getting high? Wow... I just can not get over the fact that someone would do that to their neighbor for getting high. It is just so appalling. Also consider the cost!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thiswzp ur an uhhhhh dumb ass quit bein so liberal and smoke a joint you stone age warrior times have changed and its time for you to either change with the time or go back to your cubicle and be the good little worker drone that you are lol loser
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this@wzip
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYour statements pertaining to pot smokers are verisimilitudes. They're just claims, and I'm sure you just have an instilled negative bias against the drug brought about by the baseless claims made about a plant that has done nothing but good things for cultures and societies over several millennia, which include: ancient Roman, Chinese, Indian, European, African, cultures. Billions of people have smoked the herb; it's nothing new nor dangerous. This hatred toward marijuana has only just recently been fueled by the US's drug enforcement agency stemming from only eighty years ago. They were wrong and are still wrong; people make mistakes. There was a prohibition on alcohol in the early twentieth century ; there is currently the same misjudged mandate on pot.
To refute means to prove erroneous. I apologize. These new findings change EVERYTHING that we know about marijuana.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this619420: I'll go back to work and consider being less liberal.
As someone who lives in the UK and has an "active" interest in such venues, I am sad to say that the UK is not that forward thinking... Indeed the government is thinking of re-classifying pot again back to its original status. (It had been moved down the rankings of illegal substances).
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs a PhD student who has spent many delightful years indulging in this and many other psychoactive substances I agree with the rational people out there..
Water can kill if taken in excess and as with everything in life there are risks.. Leave us to make our own personal choices and save vital law enforcement resources for issues that need law enforcement.
And then maybe I can source my indulgences from places that are not associated with organised crime.
Umm, yeah dude, but what about the schizophrenia and the general stupidity THC causes? It's like trading one form of stupid for another!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSchizophrenia is not caused by THC although probability of users developing it is higher than in non-users but this might be explained by other reasoning- i.e. a schizophrenic is more likely to use drugs because he's self-medicating. Don't confuse correlation with causation.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe powers that be are quick to condemn pot and other illegal drugs as dangerous . Wonder if any study has been made on the brain altering drugs prescribed by doctors for years that block some functions like pain and movements and could the residual effects of long usage be the brain slowly dying into what they call Alzheimer's.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI am a regular user, but never in excess. I read and study better, usually more focused and aware. Granted my reaction time is slowed, which is why I only use when I know I'm not going anywhere, however I remember everything that happens when both high and not. I do believe that more research would be needed before taking such claim, however it is good to hear that scientists are taking more of an out of the box approach. Besides, Alzheimer's runs in my family, my father is beginning to show signs of it even. I don't plan on quiting any time soon, so I'll let you know if I get Alzheimer's.... actually, I'll let you know if I don't
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSince small amounts of THC are to be found in many of the food items made from industrial hemp, it might be a good idea to include hemp oil, hemp milk, hemp seeds, hemp butter or hemp flour in your diet on a daily basis. Hemp milk has the perfect balance of EFAs, and since cows emit methane gas while belching and farting, hemp milk is a good alternative to cows milk as it is a great rotation crop for wheat, corn, tobacco, and cotton and it consumes CO2 rather than emitting methane gas.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhen planted, hemp breaks up the soil, and since the tap root goes very deep it brings up nutrients that other crops like the ones I mentioned above do not bring up, thus revitalizing the top soil. Whether it revitalizes human brain functions it is only conjecture at this point, but consuming hemp food products can't hurt. Hemp is not marijuana, but it does have some THC. For further info on hemp go to:www.thehia.org, www.crrh.org, www.hemperfi.org.
Honestly, there are fewer downsides to the moderate use of marijuana than there are to the moderate use of alcohol. Many of the drug related crime enterprises would disappear if marijuana were to be legalized. The moonshiners are extinct now that alcohol is legal again. Personal responsibility cannot be mandated by law, people will do what people will do regardless of the law. Kudos for finding ways to utilize this plant to help people.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou can get "high" from foxglove and morning glory seeds as well, however; no one is scribbling legislature to ban them. Imagine the cops kicking in the door of home depot to confiscate their morning glory seeds...sheesh.
the reason pot is not legal is that it would be to hard to tax. Not everyone can distill alcohol so easy to tax but any one can grow weeds. not everyone can grow exceptional weed but not every wine is a 96 Jordon cab.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI am a what is considered a heavy pot smoker and have been for over 30 years! I am 54 and recently went back to school. I am getting all "A's"! I have degenerative disc disease, arthritis, irritable bowel and a history of migraines. If I go without pot for more then a week my symptoms all worsen. My memory is not affected, after all how can a person who has been out of school for longer than I have smoked pull straight "A's" if pot affects memory the way you claim.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI have been smoking for over 30 years. I am 54 and recently went back to school. I smoke daily even while I'm studying. I am pulling straight "A's! No memory problem here! No one knows I smoke on a daily basis, except those I get it from or smoke with.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe paranoia about cannabis is real, but, still, it is paranoia. That said, I point out that smoke from burning vegetation is very bad for the pulmonary system. I have seen the effects for myself in human lungs I have studied. Furthermore, as I told my children, marijuana should not be used by juveniles (my opinion, anecdotal data) but, in moderation, and, with the lung caveat above, is not particularly harmful to adults relative to alcohol and other common intoxicants. Perhaps I suffer from "reverse paranoia." I remember the amusement of my fellow graduate students and myself when several excellent senior professors in our department opined that,"no one could possibly earn a doctorate in a scientific discipline at Duke University while using pot." Fifty percent of us, happily, did. I am now professor emeritus at a large research university after (I brag) a very successful career in research, teaching and professional consulting. Most of the students I mentioned followed a similar curve. So much for that--Ho, Ho (not "Duh).
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe paranoia about cannabis is real, but, still, it is paranoia. That said, I point out that smoke from burning vegetation is very bad for the pulmonary system. I have seen the effects for myself in human lungs I have studied. Furthermore, as I told my children, marijuana should not be used by juveniles (my opinion, anecdotal data) but, in moderation, and, with the lung caveat above, is not particularly harmful to adults relative to alcohol and other common intoxicants. Perhaps I suffer from "reverse paranoia." I remember the amusement of my fellow graduate students and myself when several excellent senior professors in our department opined that,"no one could possibly earn a doctorate in a scientific discipline at Duke University while using pot." Fifty percent of us, happily, showed the error in that fatuous statement. I am now professor emeritus at a large research university after (I brag) a very successful career in research, teaching and professional consulting. Most of the students I mentioned followed a similar curve. So much for that--Ho, Ho (not "Duh).
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisEr, tetrahydrocannabinol, actually. PAY ATTENTION TO DETAILS, PEOPLE, FOR FUCK'S SAKE, DETAILS ARE IMPORTANT ! Sorry to be a spelling Nazi, but if you want to talk about real stuff, it helps if you demonstrate that you know what the fuck you are talking about, NOT MAKE A VAGUE GUESS about WHAT IT IS or WHERE IT'S AT, you know ? At least, get the name right for chrissake. Dig.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI was concerned that my neighbour was growing cannabis, she said it was brocolli. My friend said try smoking some, and if you are still concerned, it's brocolli. Unknown comedian.
Point is, there are plenty of reasons to smoke pot, Bill Hicks is just one. If it helps your condition, do it. If your friends tell you that you are going mad, absolutely fucking mental like my friend did (Really, Fucking Mental - he got to Hearing Messages from Aliens, over the BBC radio), then stop it, it can seriously screw you over. AND you won't recover, you will be a basket case like my unfortunate friend.