Up in Smoke: Marijuana Toasts Memory

By Robert Roy Britt
LiveScience Managing Editor
posted: 13 March 2006
04:01 pm ET


If you can't remember the headline of this article or are already struggling to recall some of the words at the beginning of the story, try hard to recall how much pot you smoked in your youth.

A new study finds those who've used a lot of marijuana have worse memories and don't think as quickly.

It's not the first study to suggest pot hurts memory, but the findings are stark.

In one memory test, long-time uses remembered seven of 15 words, on average. Non-users remembered 12 of 15. On a decision-making test, those who had rarely smoked pot had impaired performance 8 percent of time, while long-term tokers had 70 percent impairment.

The results are detailed in the March 14 issue of the journal Neurology.

The study involved 64 people age 17 to 49 selected from a larger study group. They were split into three groups: those who had smoked four or more joints per week for more than 10 years; those who'd been smoking for five to 10 years; and those who had smoked at least once but not more than 20 times and not at all in the past two years.

The middle group consistently scored in between the other two.

"We found that the longer people used marijuana, the more deterioration they had in these cognitive abilities, especially in the ability to learn and remember new information," said Lambros Messinis of the Department of Neurology at the University Hospital of Patras in Patras, Greece.

A separate study in Neurology last year found higher blood flow velocity in the marijuana users even a month after they stopped smoking. Researchers said the change could help explain other studies that have revealed memory problems in pot smokers.

A Harvard Medical School study in 2003 found lasting memory impairment in people who had started smoking marijuana before age 17, when the brain is still forming.

And research published in November indicated that heavy marijuana use might put adolescents who are genetically predisposed to schizophrenia at greater risk of developing the brain disorder.

Some 3.1 million Americans age 12 and older use marijuana daily or almost daily, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. In 2004, 5.6 percent of 12th graders reported daily use of marijuana.

http://www.livescience.com/humanbiol...pot_brain.html


I'm not sure if this was posted back in March or not, but in any case I'll ask; What are all your takes on these findings? Personally, I think it's within the realm of possibility but on the other hand they don't add up to my own personal experiences -- as if this is more government propaganda fueled by shoddy, biased research. And if it does harm the mind then I choose this less self-destructive indulgence as opposed to a drunkards vice of alcohol.

Sure, while I'm high I have an inability to process every little thing I hear, but the same can't be said for when I haven't smoked in a few days and I'm completely of sound mind.

I've never really gotten behind the belief that cannabis can cause these latent psychological disorders to pop up. On the contrary, I started after being "diagnosed" by some quack. Gave up talking to him after a few goes, started toking cannabis therapeutically... really helped. After a while I was feeling alright with less and less usage, so I stopped for a while. I think a lot of it depends how you consume it. If you're taking massive hits from dirty pipes, thick papers, etc... then you will obviously be consuming more carbon monoxide (doesn't it kill brain cells... sort of like holding your breathe too long... ? I can't call that one for sure). Anyways, I would say that it's probably just another anti-study. If even a study, and not just a story.

Here's an example of how much credibility you can put into studies that start out with the intention of proving something.

http://throwawayyourtv.com/2006/05/s...-bullshit.html

Eh, no big deal to me. I've always wanted to forget things more often than remember them. Makes avoiding emotional discomfort much easier...
and as for descision impairment... I think that might be complete opinion. Good descisions are relative.

that is all bs, cannabis has been not only been proven to not kill brain cells, but it has been proven to repair the damaged ones!

The only time i forget certain events is when I try to recall events when I was high.

If you're perma-high all the time it's a continuous string of short-term memory loss; so it's only natural you're going to have some trouble remembering things.

Don't overdo it and you'll be fine.

I won't deny that pot has affected my memory, but at the same time I don't blame the herb for it. There was a point in my life where I wanted to forget everything... I really just didn't give a fuck about remembering anything, and like Inferious mentioned it had a lot to do with emotional crap. So I smoked a shitload of pot and let myself forget a lot of stuff. Not my brightest hour, and I do regret having lost a lot of memories when I let them go. But I think it was a concious choice, and smoking just made it much easier. If you smoke in moderation and after your brain is fully developed (after puberty) I don't think there's much to worry about... just don't expect your short term memory to be fantastic while you're high.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Inferius

Eh, no big deal to me. I've always wanted to forget things more often than remember them. Makes avoiding emotional discomfort much easier...
and as for descision impairment... I think that might be complete opinion. Good descisions are relative.

---

yes.... i agree 100%

Sounds fishy to me

I saw this thread and thought it was information proving marijuana dosent damage memory. Now I'm crushed, I just read the post and I really want to believe its propaganda

The real question is "who cares?". Despite the fact that the study is questionable, is it really a big deal that heavy, long term cannabis users can't remember as many words as non-smokers? Oh my, that will have REAL detrimental effects on the quality of your life!

And what I hate most about these studies is that no effect of any drug can be so bad as to warrent losing your job or being thrown in jail over. It just doesn't make any sense. Anyone drug user sent to prison will come out much worse than when he went in.

Even if it's true, another study shows that cannabis helps prevent Alzheimer's. So, a little faulty memory or your brain rotted away to the point where you shit your pants and can't remember your best friend. I can live with a little faulty memory.

I have many great mamaries from my youth

One of my favorite lines from that movie Hamlet posted was something to the efect of "The world revolves around me and since I dont like something I'm going to do whatever I can to get rid of it" in reference to non smokers talking about smokers. It makes you realize how selfish marijuana prohibition is.

Please note that the article doesn't actually site the study it's reporting on...making it impossible for the reader to do further research on his/her own.

That's usually a pretty good sign the journalist is feeding you a load of crap...or it's just a case of lazy journalism or a combination thereof.

OINK

Quote:

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Originally Posted by afghooey

I won't deny that pot has affected my memory, but at the same time I don't blame the herb for it. There was a point in my life where I wanted to forget everything... I really just didn't give a fuck about remembering anything, and like Inferious mentioned it had a lot to do with emotional crap. So I smoked a shitload of pot and let myself forget a lot of stuff. Not my brightest hour, and I do regret having lost a lot of memories when I let them go. But I think it was a concious choice, and smoking just made it much easier. If you smoke in moderation and after your brain is fully developed (after puberty) I don't think there's much to worry about... just don't expect your short term memory to be fantastic while you're high.

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I did the same thing

I've noticed a difference since I started smoking everyday, but now that I've cut down, its slowly all coming back

I been smoking for a total of two years, I started late but the second year I started smoking daily, consuming .5-1gram a day and by the end of the year I started to feel hazy and some brain fog is that the right term.. well I have taken a tollerance break and im still in the process of it right now on day 11 and I feel like my head is clear at the moment and my memory is slowly getting better but not completly yet, and I plan on taking off more time to see the affects it will have.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PieEyedPiper

I have many great mamaries from my youth

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i dont have mamaries, but ive felt a great many of them

this might be really stupid but i dont really car... think about this

when im high i know that my mind is racing with thoughts...maybe since when people are high they are thinking a lot more than people who arent high, so since you are thinking about different things all the time...its harder to remember certain things because you think about so much more????

anyone...? am i just stupid?

I would like to see the same survey from that age group's alcoholics..

it has had no effect on my learning i can reed and smell ploperly and........sorry i forgot the rest of question...dam

I've been smoking the evil weed for 31 years (average one sess a day for the last twenty) and still retain all my faculties. My memory is no worse than it was when I was in my youth.

I've been toking for over 30 yrs....am a scientist and a professional....its all about responsible use versus abuse...

I'm a web developer and graphic designer and use it everyday.

Knee-deep in php I think it helps to be able to think outside the box, everyone is different though....