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Marijuana might cause new cell growth in the brain

newscientist.com

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Re: Marijuana might cause new cell growth in the brain

#21

Post by thaumaturgy »

MJuser wrote: post #9
patrickmclaren wrote: post #2

I wonder how many of these 'researchers' actually smoke marijuana on a regular basis. I definitely found that a prolonged use had the complete opposite effect of "reducing anxiety and depression". I understand that many professionals use marijuana, but how many marijuana users are able to maintain a professional career?

I smoke every morning before shower and ever evening before bed. I've done so for many years now and it's helped reduce my depression (inherited) and keep my GAD under control. It's been much more successful than traditional treatment regimes (SSRIs et al - tried it all) I'm currently running a successful business and have never been in any trouble with the law. Without marijuana I'd never have been able to achieve w…

Yeah, there are lots of anecdotal stories that at the least suggest that the effects of marijuana seem to vary from user to user.

I knew one guy that had habitually smoked a bowl pretty much every single day ever since the 70s. He was a brilliant programmer, had a much better short-term and long-term memory than I do, and was well-versed in numerous other topics.

I also knew another person that was mostly average, and then started smoking marijuana, and lost all drive to do anything or the ability to recall conversations from the previous day.

And I knew yet another person that wanted to get something done in life, so he quit smoking marijuana and felt a lot better, much sharper, started studying again, etc.

It depends. The important part is that you spend enough time in introspection to understand what's good for you and what isn't.

There's nothing intrinsically good or bad about marijuana.

Re: Marijuana might cause new cell growth in the brain

#22

Post by jsz0 »

ojbyrne wrote: post #14
jsz0 wrote: post #6

This is great news for the pharmaceutical industry. The successful testing was done with a synthetic chemical very much like THC while real THC failed to get results. Sounds like a good way to monetize to me.

From wikipedia: "Monazite is a reddish-brown phosphate mineral containing rare earth metals and is an important source of thorium, lanthanum, and cerium. It occurs usually in small isolated crystals." I'm guessing that's not what you meant.

Not quite but it's an interesting term to know.

Re: Marijuana might cause new cell growth in the brain

#23

Post by RevRal »

ekiru wrote: post #20
MartinCron wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"And, it is amazing that the drugs that are least harmful, or not harmful at all, are the most illegal" That's just wrong, a drug like coffee is a good example of "least harmful" and isn't anywhere near "most illegal"

While I disagree to some extent with your parent's point(that legality of drug use isn't strongly correlated with the danger of said drug use), one data point(not illegal, mostly non-harmful) is hardly enough to refute it. To refute it, it is better to point out that relatively few controlled substances in the US have any significant controversy over their criminalization(marijuana and ecstasy are the only two that I…

I could have written my sentence better. If I used illegal-ness as my main qualifier instead of harm, that might fix some confusion.

And, it is amazing that the most illegal drugs are the least physically harmful. Still not perfect, but an improvement.

I'm no expert on this, so I admit that this might not always be the case. I went out looking for something to illustrate my point. Didn't need to go any further than wikipedia: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9c/Rat...

Re: Marijuana might cause new cell growth in the brain

#25

Post by ThrowAwayMJ »

patrickmclaren wrote: post #2

I wonder how many of these 'researchers' actually smoke marijuana on a regular basis. I definitely found that a prolonged use had the complete opposite effect of "reducing anxiety and depression". I understand that many professionals use marijuana, but how many marijuana users are able to maintain a professional career?

When the company I work for recently needed a number of us to undergo drug testing to land a big contract, I discovered that my boss and a number of folks on my team were regular MJ smokers. The company we were contracting with didn't specify the testing methodology that was to be used, so my boss picked the one with the shortest detection window -- two days for the saliva test.

I really would not have suspected that any of these folks were pot smokers, they're all very professional and do not fall into any of the stereotypes you might expect. I myself smoke 3-4 times a week, usually on the weekends.

Re: Marijuana might cause new cell growth in the brain

#26

Post by Imprecate »

jrockway wrote: post #4
patrickmclaren wrote: post #2

I wonder how many of these 'researchers' actually smoke marijuana on a regular basis. I definitely found that a prolonged use had the complete opposite effect of "reducing anxiety and depression". I understand that many professionals use marijuana, but how many marijuana users are able to maintain a professional career?

How many alcohol users are able to maintain a professional career? How many caffeine users? It may be that drug use and maintaining a professional career are simply not related.

I know a lot of professionals who use drugs responsibly and recreationally. Even the ones who use hard drugs or abuse alcohol heavily tend to walk the fine line between functional addict and basket-case. Of course, there's a survivorship bias to my anecdotal evidence.

I don't smoke pot, but I think it's one of the least harmful drugs if someone enjoys getting high regularly. Physical and psychological dependance are rare, the effects are mild for most people, and it isn't especially harmful to the body (at least if you vaporize or eat it).

Re: Marijuana might cause new cell growth in the brain

#27

Post by netcan »

jsz0 wrote: post #7
patrickmclaren wrote: post #2

I wonder how many of these 'researchers' actually smoke marijuana on a regular basis. I definitely found that a prolonged use had the complete opposite effect of "reducing anxiety and depression". I understand that many professionals use marijuana, but how many marijuana users are able to maintain a professional career?

More than you think. In my experience the professionals who use marijuana keep it under the radar. They have too much to lose. As such the whole stereotype of marijuana users is based around the people who are public about it. If you look at the amount of marijuana coming into this country, and being grown here, it's just so much product that it has to cover a pretty massive demographic. There just aren't enough unem…

Or pay for it.

I'm reminding of some Hitchhikers Guide quote about a product targeted at those who by definition don't have any money.

Re: Marijuana might cause new cell growth in the brain

#28

Post by Imprecate »

RevRal wrote: post #11
patrickmclaren wrote: post #2

I wonder how many of these 'researchers' actually smoke marijuana on a regular basis. I definitely found that a prolonged use had the complete opposite effect of "reducing anxiety and depression". I understand that many professionals use marijuana, but how many marijuana users are able to maintain a professional career?

We flat out do not have a good understanding of how a brain is effected by drugs. And, it is amazing that the drugs that are least harmful, or not harmful at all, are the most illegal. There are, of course, devious reasons for that. Whether we are aware it or not, everything that we perceive and consume effects us. One person will react differently to the sight of a bowl of cereal than another. It is the same with dr…

I'm more curious why psychedelics are (or were) viewed as something that can cause social problems. It's more clear with drugs that create physical dependence, like opioids or dopamine reuptake inhibitors (cocaine, amphetamines). However, drugs in those classes, along with other addictive drugs like benzodiazepines, are legal with a doctor's prescription.

Why can't people take LSD once a year in a safe, supervised setting?

Re: Marijuana might cause new cell growth in the brain

#29

Post by RevRal »

Imprecate wrote: post #28
RevRal wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We flat out do not have a good understanding of how a brain is effected by drugs. And, it is amazing that the drugs that are least harmful, or not harmful at all, are the most illegal. There are, of course, devious reasons for that. Whether we are aware it or not, everything that we perceive and consume effects us. One person will react differently to the sight of a bowl of cereal than another. It is the same with dr…

I'm more curious why psychedelics are (or were) viewed as something that can cause social problems. It's more clear with drugs that create physical dependence, like opioids or dopamine reuptake inhibitors (cocaine, amphetamines). However, drugs in those classes, along with other addictive drugs like benzodiazepines, are legal with a doctor's prescription. Why can't people take LSD once a year in a safe, supervised se…

I don't have a good answer, but I do know that LSD came around when there was a lot of change going on in the world. That might have had something to do with it.

I'm actually pretty curious now, so I'll look into it.

Re: Marijuana might cause new cell growth in the brain

#30

Post by pwmanagerdied »

patrickmclaren wrote: post #2

I wonder how many of these 'researchers' actually smoke marijuana on a regular basis. I definitely found that a prolonged use had the complete opposite effect of "reducing anxiety and depression". I understand that many professionals use marijuana, but how many marijuana users are able to maintain a professional career?

Well, my anecdote's better than your anecdote and it says the opposite, so take that!
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