How Marijuana Really Affects the Brain

[NYC_SKP]

16. One can be normal and healthy, or one can "get high" or "catch a buzz"....

IMO, one can't be both because our bodies and our minds have evolved to very sophisticated and sensitive states.


The same is true for tobacco and alcohol use and of particular concern for young bodies and minds: These are foreign chemical compounds that the body doesn't need and doesn't want, and they INTERFERE with normal development.

Fairly benign, but by no means are any of these without effect. The degree to which pot is physically or psychologically addictive is going to vary by individual and continue to be studied for generations to come.

From the American Psychological Association:

More people support marijuana use, but they are frequently misinformed about the drug’s dangers and its addictive nature, said Nora D. Volkow, MD, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. She spoke at a March 8 congressional briefing in Washington, D.C.

Her talk, part of the “Friends of NIDA” series co-sponsored by APA, gave congressional aides and policymakers the latest research findings on marijuana’s harms and benefits. One-third of Americans have tried marijuana at least once, Volkow said, making it the most commonly used illegal drug in the United States — and a prime target for research. NIDA estimates that about 9 percent of frequent marijuana users are dependent on the drug.

“People take marijuana for the same reason they take other drugs: They make you feel good,” Volkow said.

That good feeling is tied to the dopamine-based reward system in the brain’s nucleus accumbens region. Compounds in marijuana bind to the brain’s cannabinoid receptors, triggering dopamine release and resulting in a high. Long-term use of marijuana not only increases the amount of the drug that users need to reach the same high, it also inhibits the brain’s natural cannabinoids. As a result, over time users feel dysphoric and “off” if they haven’t recently taken marijuana. Marijuana also targets and interferes with cannabinoid receptors in areas of the brain crucial to a number of cognitive functions, especially the cerebellum (movement), hippocampus (memory) and amygdala (emotional control).

Interfering with those cognitive processes is particularly dangerous for young people’s developing brains, Volkow said, and there’s evidence to suggest using marijuana at an early age can have lifetime consequences. Twin studies show that people exposed to marijuana as young teens are more likely to become dependent on other drugs, such as cocaine and painkillers.

http://www.apa.org/monitor/2011/05/marijuana.aspx

This is a good read, too:

Four lines of evidence all substantiate that marijuana is addictive: basic neuroscience, animal studies, clinical reports of human experience with marijuana, and epidemiology. Data from these four areas of scientific research corroborate each other and interweave fluidly to dispel the myth that marijuana is not addictive.

In order to place the following information in its proper perspective, medicine's current understanding of how marijuana interacts with the brain needs to be outlined. Scientific research has discovered an extensive system of nerves within the brain that communicate with each other using the same basic chemistry found in marijuana. The THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) and similar molecules in marijuana are able to affect the brain by mimicking our natural neurotransmitters and flooding receptor sites with stimulation. All the cannabinoid-based areas of the brain are subsequently activated beyond normal physiological levels by using marijuana.

While we are only beginning to unravel the pervasive role the endocannabinoid (i.e., the brain's naturally occurring THC-like molecules) system plays in overall brain function, Raphael Mechoulam, one of the most important pioneers in cannabinoid research, has declared that "The cannabinoid receptors are found in higher concentrations than any other receptor in the brain... and the endocannabinoid system acts essentially in just about every physiological system that people have looked into, so it appears to be a very central system.&quot 2)

http://www.csam-asam.org/marijuanas-addictive-potential-healthcare-professionals