Marijuana’s Impact on Brain Minimal, Says New Study

By Andrew

Contrary to what everyone – even potheads – think about marijuana, a new study shows that the drug has “minimal” effects on the brain. Conducted by a team of investigators from the United Kingdom, Spain, Brazil, Switzerland and Australia, the “systematic literature review”, recently published online by Psychological Medicine, combines 41 different studies from around the world of marijuana’s effect on brain function. And after thorough review, the researches concluded that its effects are nearly nonexistent.

According to a 2001 study published in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry, long-term cannabis smokers who abstained from pot for one week “showed virtually no significant differences from control subjects (those who had smoked marijuana less than 50 times in their lives) on a battery of 10 neuropsychological tests.” Investigators added, “Former heavy users, who had consumed little or no cannabis in the three months before testing, [also] showed no significant differences from control subjects on any of these tests on any of the testing days.” [via NORML]

Now, as happy as I’m sure this makes any pot smoker, I think it’s important to pay attention to your own marijuana studies (i.e. smoking it) to determine how it effects you and to what degree. Sure, the scientists are probably right about long term use. But that still doesn’t mean you won’t turn into a stoner…