Marijuana Boosts Brain Cell Growth
Most illicit drugs like opiates, alcohol and cocaine decrease the generation of new neurons in the brain, but marijuana appears to have the opposite effect on this process. Researchers from the University of Saskatchewan have published their findings on marijuana's effects on the brain in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. On top of the drug's promotion of brain cell growth - called neurogenesis - marijuana also appeared to have antidepressant and anti-anxiety properties.
A team, led by researcher Xia Zhang, worked with rats that were given a synthesized version of marijuana twice per day for 10 days. After this period, the rats displayed evidence of new neuron creation in the hippocampus, an area of the brain involved in developing memories.
Zhang's team suspected the new brain cells might also be associated with a reduction in anxiety and depression, as previous studies had indicated medications used to treat anxiety and depression achieve their effect this way.
The researchers explored the possible antidepressant and anti-anxiety effects of the drug on the rats by exposing them and a control group of rats to a number of environmental/food based tests. The tests indicated that the rats who were given the marijuana displayed both a reduction in anxiety behaviors and indications of antidepressant effects.
The researchers conclude that there is a link between increased adult neurogenesis (brain cell regeneration) and modified behavior following cannabinoid treatment. They say the findings are important because they demonstrate the positive roles cannabinoids and their receptors play in brain processing and medicine.
Source: Journal of Clinical Investigation
oh, it kills brain cells eh?
Next
Make sure you read past the first paragraph.
Large Study Finds No Link between Marijuana and Lung Cancer
By David Biello
marijuana, cannabis
The smoke from burning marijuana leaves contains several known carcinogens and the tar it creates contains 50 percent more of some of the chemicals linked to lung cancer than tobacco smoke. A marijuana cigarette also deposits four times as much of that tar as an equivalent tobacco one. Scientists were therefore surprised to learn that a study of more than 2,000 people found no increase in the risk of developing lung cancer for marijuana smokers.
"We expected that we would find that a history of heavy marijuana use--more than 500 to 1,000 uses--would increase the risk of cancer from several years to decades after exposure to marijuana," explains physician Donald Tashkin of the University of California, Los Angeles, and lead researcher on the project. But looking at residents of Los Angeles County, the scientists found that even those who smoked more than 20,000 joints in their life did not have an increased risk of lung cancer.
The researchers interviewed 611 lung cancer patients and 1,040 healthy controls as well as 601 patients with cancer in the head or neck region under the age of 60 to create the statistical analysis. They found that 80 percent of those with lung cancer and 70 percent of those with other cancers had smoked tobacco while only roughly half of both groups had smoked marijuana. The more tobacco a person smoked, the greater the risk of developing cancer, as other studies have shown.
But after controlling for tobacco, alcohol and other drug use as well as matching patients and controls by age, gender and neighborhood, marijuana did not seem to have an effect, despite its unhealthy aspects. "Marijuana is packed more loosely than tobacco, so there's less filtration through the rod of the cigarette, so more particles will be inhaled," Tashkin says. "And marijuana smokers typically smoke differently than tobacco smokers; they hold their breath about four times longer allowing more time for extra fine particles to deposit in the lungs."
The study does not reveal how marijuana avoids causing cancer. Tashkin speculates that perhaps the THC chemical in marijuana smoke prompts aging cells to die before becoming cancerous. Tashkin and his colleagues presented the findings yesterday at a meeting of the American Thoracic Society in San Diego.
I'm not going to quote this one, it's too long. But if you aren't too closed minded to accept you could be wrong, then read it.
http://blogs.salon.com/0002762/stories/2003/12/22/whyIsMarijuanaIllegal.htmlAlso, if it were legal, there would be far less chemical huffing (that sometimes causes instant death). Also a lot less people would go to the store to buy Robitussen to get high (the active ingredient Dextromethorphan is a dissassociative drug that can most definately cause overdose, not to mention people getting the wrong kind with other ingredients than DXM, which can cause death if even a little too much enters the body).
Also, it boost creativity and lessens depression. So, please. Shut your ignorant face because you have no idea what you're talking about.
