Edgar asked me to find this piece of information, don't read it, I don't feel it appropriate to post this on a Cannabis forum but I was asked to and I like to always be right!
Cannabis Research
Will the real dopes in this marijuana-use study please stand up?
How much marijuana does a research volunteer need to smoke to demonstrate that dope is bad for your brains? Apparently, up to 350 joints a week.
In a study financed by the U.S. government, scientists measured blood flow in the brains of volunteers who smoked different amounts of weed. So-called "light users" smoked from two to 15 joints a week; moderate users toked 17 to 70 joints per week; and heavy users puffed away at from 78 to 350 joints per week.
The researchers found regular pot use narrows blood vessels and restricts oxygen and other nutrients from getting to the brain, possibly explaining why dope seems to impair memory. Furthermore, heavy dope-users still had restricted blood flow a full month after they stopped smoking up.
"This study unequivocally shows that marijuana has adverse effects on the brain," said Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which commissioned the research. "You really do not want to jeopardize the circulation [of blood] in the brain."
But the scientists found that "light users," who smoked seven to 11 joints a week, showed no lasting ill-effects from their habit. Their blood flow returned to normal within a month of quitting.
In an interview, Dr. Volkow acknowledged that those who experienced the more serious effects did smoke "huge, huge, huge doses." And even some of the so-called "light-users" smoked up on a daily basis. But she insisted the study is realistic. "There are people who are taking these unbelievably huge quantities of drugs."
Still, it's hard to take a study seriously when the participants have to almost chain-smoke joints in order to produce negative clinical results. This is one study the occasional pot smoker can safely forget about. Those who took part in the study certainly won't be able to remember it.
