Casual cannabis use alters brain

New research has shown that it only takes a small amount of cannabis to alter the parts of the brain that control emotions, motivation and addiction.

It was previously thought that only heavy cannabis users suffer from complex psychological changes; however, the new study has found that changes start to appear within a few months amongst those who are smoking marijuana two or three times a week.

This finding means that even those who consider themselves to be ‘just experimenting’ with cannabis may be doing themselves some serious harm. The damage is likely to be permanent.

Experts now say that nobody under the age of 30 should use cannabis and that it is certainly not a safe drug.

The research was carried out by a team at Harvard Medical School in America. The team performed detailed 3D brain scans and compared students who had been using cannabis casually with those who had never taken it. The results showed variations in two very important parts of the brain.

40 cannabis users were assessed and there was a clear correlation between cannabis usage and changes in the brain. The more cannabis people had used, the more prominent the changes were.

Dr Hans Breiter led the research and explained some of the findings: “This study raises a strong challenge to the idea that casual marijuana use isn’t associated with bad consequences. Some people only used marijuana to get high once or twice a week. People think a little recreational use shouldn’t cause a problem if someone is doing OK with work or school. Our data directly says this is not the case. I’ve developed a severe worry about whether we should be allowing anybody under age 30 to use pot unless they have a terminal illness and need it for pain.”

Very few people are aware of the real risks involved when taking drugs.