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Does marijuana kill brain cells?


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Posted

The LD50 in humans is about 1400mg/kg.. this works out to be around BAL 0.42%, or about 20 shots of 80 proof alcohol.

 

But I'm comparing this to marijuana, which has a lethal dose so high it's never been reported.

Posted

Hey wolfson can you explain that last bit?

And faf where you hear that cannibis is safer than cigarettes?

Posted

CH = cerebral hyperactivity, similar to the contusions seen in the prefrontal cortex on an alcoholics brain. Whereas the Hippocampus is near to the amygdala, and the pituitary galnd. Hoped that helped you.

Posted

THe LD50 is 60mg; but theres no more than 3-4mg that reaches the smoker per cigarette, and its metabolized quickly. Take 20 of the nicotine gums and chew them all at once tho... you'll probably die.

Posted
THe LD50 is 60mg; but theres no more than 3-4mg that reaches the smoker per cigarette, and its metabolized quickly. Take 20 of the nicotine gums and chew them all at once tho... you'll probably die.

 

LD50?

Is LD = Lethal Dosage?

What is 50 for?

 

& what about those who chew tobacco?

Isn't that bad then?

  • 4 weeks later...
Posted
Is there a lethal limit to cigarettes? i heard that nicotine is quite lethal in small amounts

I know this guy who used to buy chewing tobacco and make it into a liquid (I don't remember how) then he would spay it on his garden to kill the bugs! I'm thinking it's pretty poisnous.

Posted
I know this guy who used to buy chewing tobacco and make it into a liquid (I don't remember how) then he would spay it on his garden to kill the bugs! I'm thinking it's pretty poisnous.

 

 

His celery had a half life of 2 months within the body.

 

Anyone have a chart of the LD50 for many different drugs?

Something very interesting to see.

  • 3 weeks later...
Guest hypnosonance
Posted

<< "" http://www.druglibrary.org/crl/neur...20JNeurosci.pdf

 

 

If you laugh at the Journal of Neuroscience, I laugh at your cretinism. "" >>

 

There is only one sentence in this entire study that needs to be read, and it's this one, written near the end:

 

"Although there is no evidence that marijuana is neurotoxic for the human brain,"

 

What comes before and after is moot. This study was conducted on rats, not humans.

Posted

...because animal studies are done just for the hell of it, they have no application to human medicine.

 

Please refrain from commenting on basic axioms of research progression when you clearly don't understand the whole point of testing on rats.

Guest hypnosonance
Posted

<<...because animal studies are done just for the hell of it, they have no application to human medicine.>>

 

That's not my opinion and I said nothing to infer it was. The evolution of human medicine wasn't the topic of this thread.

 

<<Please refrain from commenting on basic axioms of research progression when you clearly don't understand the whole point of testing on rats.>>

 

I understand the point of testing on rats. What I don't understand is why we are discussing the application and residual benefits of rat testing when the true point of my post was to debunk your initial post. You stated:

 

"Wrong. Marijuana has demonstrated neurotoxicity to cells in the hippocampus, resulting in memory loss."

 

You failed to mention rats here. I simply pointed that out. I'm not questioning the validity of animal testing in science. I'm pointing out that your statement is erroneous. The original poster wasn't wrong, but it turns out you are. In the future, I'll try to have my basic axioms in better order. Apologies.

Posted

It's not erroneous, because there's more reason to believe it's not a random interaction with some protein unique to rats than to believe that to be the case.

Posted

fafalone-

 

The statement might be erroneous for a few reasons: 1) It is based upon animal testing (as mentioned), 2) Most of the citations given are administering very large amounts of marijuana to rats over long periods of time (three and six months), which is probably unrealistic compared to normal, average human use, 3) marijuana use may lead to both memory loss and cell death, but no direct connection between the two is established, which goes to point 4) there may be many other factors involved in the memory problems having little to nothing to do with the cell death. The memory problems due to marijuana use in humans is not permanent. Is memory recoved to due the cells recovering? New cells growing? Older cells taking over functioning? Something having nothing to do with cell loss? Does the cell loss matter in the long term at all? I dont know, the authors of this study dont know, and I suspect that you dont know either... hence the erroneous statement.

 

Hypnosonance-

 

If you are going to critique a study, at least take the time to do it right. ;)

Guest guyoncoach
Posted

i smoke marijuana just about every weekend a few joints. On monday i feel a little light headed and slow but by tuesday i feel completely normal, thinking quickly and logically.

Guest zephyr
Posted

Marijuana does NOT kill brain cells.I've speculated about this a lot... and then decided to read up to decide.

It is not addictive when done in moderation.

 

Anyway. For those in doubt, do check out this site at least....

http://paranoia.lycaeum.org/marijuana/facts/mj-health-mythology

 

I have links to several other sites that may help you take away your doubts.

But always do remember:

USE it, dont abuse it. Control the weed, dont let it control you. That's when it is the most fun. And the most safe....

:cool:

Posted
Effects on the Brain

 

Scientists have learned a great deal about how THC acts in the brain to produce its many effects. When someone smokes marijuana, THC rapidly passes from the lungs into the bloodstream, which carries the chemical to organs throughout the body, including the brain.

 

In the brain, THC connects to specific sites called cannabinoid receptors on nerve cells and influences the activity of those cells. Some brain areas have many cannabinoid receptors; others have few or none. Many cannabinoid receptors are found in the parts of the brain that influence pleasure, memory, thought, concentration, sensory and time perception, and coordinated movement(5).

 

The short-term effects of marijuana can include problems with memory and learning; distorted perception; difficulty in thinking and problem solving; loss of coordination; and increased heart rate. Research findings for long-term marijuana use indicate some changes in the brain similar to those seen after long-term use of other major drugs of abuse. For example, cannabinoid (THC or synthetic forms of THC) withdrawal in chronically exposed animals leads to an increase in the activation of the stress-response system(6) and changes in the activity of nerve cells containing dopamine(7). Dopamine neurons are involved in the regulation of motivation and reward, and are directly or indirectly affected by all drugs of abuse.

 

and

 

Effects of Heavy Marijuana Use on Learning and Social Behavior

 

Depression(19), anxiety(20), and personality disturbances(21) have been associated with marijuana use. Research clearly demonstrates that marijuana has potential to cause problems in daily life or make a person’s existing problems worse. Because marijuana compromises the ability to learn and remember information, the more a person uses marijuana the more he or she is likely to fall behind in accumulating intellectual, job, or social skills. Moreover, research has shown that marijuana’s adverse impact on memory and learning can last for days or weeks after the acute effects of the drug wear off(22, 23).

 

Students who smoke marijuana get lower grades and are less likely to graduate from high school, compared with their non-smoking peers(24, 25, 26, 27). A study of 129 college students found that, for heavy users of marijuana (those who smoked the drug at least 27 of the preceding 30 days), critical skills related to attention, memory, and learning were significantly impaired even after they had not used the drug for at least 24 hours(28). The heavy marijuana users in the study had more trouble sustaining and shifting their attention and in registering, organizing, and using information than did the study participants who had used marijuana no more than 3 of the previous 30 days. As a result, someone who smokes marijuana every day may be functioning at a reduced intellectual level all of the time.

 

More recently, the same researchers showed that the ability of a group of long-term heavy marijuana users to recall words from a list remained impaired for a week after quitting, but returned to normal within 4 weeks(29). Thus, it is possible that some cognitive abilities may be restored in individuals who quit smoking marijuana, even after long-term heavy use.

 

Workers who smoke marijuana are more likely than their coworkers to have problems on the job. Several studies associate workers’ marijuana smoking with increased absences, tardiness, accidents, workers’ compensation claims, and job turnover. A study of municipal workers found that those who used marijuana on or off the job reported more “withdrawal behaviors”—such as leaving work without permission, daydreaming, spending work time on personal matters, and shirking tasks—that adversely affect productivity and morale(30). In another study, marijuana users reported that use of the drug impaired several important measures of life achievement including cognitive abilities, career status, social life, and physical and mental health(31).

 

 

 

http://www.nida.nih.gov/Infofax/marijuana.html

 

so the direct answer to the question is: NO

however it does screws with the receptors and ionic regulation/passages.

Posted

I have read on this a good amount, and no, it does not. It coats braincells with a fatty substance, causing them to stop working. But in 20-30 days or so, the fat wears off, and the cells can continue to work normally. So when using pot, brain cells will get coated and become usless, but as long as you stop, and stay stopped for about a month, you should technically be fine. Technically because if you are a heavy user you may have developed bad habits, because of it.

  • 3 weeks later...
Posted

tetrahydrocannabinol is extremely insoluble in H2O: only 0.28 g/100 mL at 23 C

C21H30O2.

 

it is an ether, an alcohol and has a cyclohexane group.

http://chemfinder.cambridgesoft.com/ChemIndex/ChemIndex/ChemIndex_action.asp?formgroup=base_form_group&dbname=ChemIndex&dataaction=Get_structure&Table=MolTable&Field=MOL_ID&DisplayType=sizedgif&width=225&height=200&StrucID=2153

^structural image

 

it's interesting. anybody know the exact reactions THC has?

 

EDIT: SW00T I AM AN ATOM!

  • 1 month later...
Guest Kakashi420
Posted

Im trying to email Tycho? right now in case he no longer responds to this subject, but I'm very interested in the fatty coating theory, it sounds very plausible and am anxious to use it in an argument.

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted
Im trying to email Tycho? right now in case he no longer responds to this subject, but I'm very interested in the fatty coating theory, it sounds very plausible and am anxious to use it in an argument.

 

I read this before, but it was a long time ago and I dont remember when. I will try and find a source for you.

Posted

Well, as you can imagine, it is very difficult to find non-biased information on this subject. There are numerous sources that say it does not indeed kill braincells, however I have been unable to find anything corroborating my earlier statement. I will continue to look, in the meantime:

 

 

MYTH:

MARIJUANA KILLS BRAIN CELLS. Used over time, marijuana permanently alters brain structure and function, causing memory loss, cognitive impairment, personality deterioration, and reduced productivity.

 

FACT:

None of the medical tests currently used to detect brain damage in humans have found harm from marijuana, even from long term high-dose use. An early study reported brain damage in rhesus monkeys after six months exposure to high concentrations of marijuana smoke. In a recent, more carefully conducted study, researchers found no evidence of brain abnormality in monkeys that were forced to inhale the equivalent of four to five marijuana cigarettes every day for a year. The claim that marijuana kills brain cells is based on a speculative report dating back a quarter of a century that has never been supported by any scientific study.

http://www.lindesmith.org/marijuana/factsmyths/

 

Also, a canadian senate comittee did extensive research on the subject. A summery of their report can be found here:

http://www.parl.gc.ca/37/1/parlbus/commbus/senate/com-e/ille-e/rep-e/summary-e.pdf

Its kinda long, but there is extremely useful information in there, from a pretty darned reputable source.

Guest
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