Marijuana kills Brain cells?

Hi, i heard that alcohol kills brain cells, but does marijuana? any tests done on it?

 

Nope, it just "touches" the brain cells.

 

Well I have read that is does indeed kill brain cells but so does breathing, eating, pooping, watxhing tv.... brain cells are constantly dieing.

 

Yes, your brain cells are constantly dieing during everything you do

 

hear is the truth, so we dont have this thread become complete bs

smoking marijunana kills brain cells (didnt you go through DARE or at least a health class)
but smoking marijuana does not kill anymore brain cells then would holding your breath or hitting your head, antidrug campaigns use it to make it sound like mj will turn u retarded
and those are the facts

 

Cannabinoids & Neurogenesis

"Study turns pot wisdom on its head," pronounced the Globe and Mail in October. News wires throughout North America and the world touted similar headlines – all of which were met with a monumental silence from federal officials and law enforcement. Why all the fuss? Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon found that the administration of synthetic cannabinoids in rats stimulated the proliferation of newborn neurons (nerve cells) in the hippocampus region of the brain and significantly reduced measures of anxiety and depression-like behavior. The results shocked researchers – who noted that almost all other so-called "drugs of abuse," including alcohol and tobacco, decrease neurogenesis in adults – and left the "pot kills brain cells" crowd with a platter of long-overdue egg on their faces.

While it would be premature to extrapolate the study's findings to humans, at a minimum, the data reinforce the notion that cannabinoids are unusually non-toxic to the brain and that even long-term use of marijuana likely represents little risk to brain function. The findings also offer further evidence that cannabinoids can play a role in the alleviation of depression and anxiety, and that cannabis-based medicines may one day offer a safer alternative to conventional anti-depressant pharmaceuticals such as Paxil and Prozac.

(Reference: Cannabinoids promote embryonic and adult hippocampus neurogenesis and produce anxiolytic and depressant-like effects. The Journal of Clinical Investigation. 2005)

Cannabis & Neuroprotection

Not only has modern science refuted the notion that marijuana is neurotoxic, recent scientific discoveries have indicated that cannabinoids are, in fact, neuroprotective, particularly against alcohol-induced brain damage. In a recent preclinical study – the irony of which is obvious to anyone who reads it – researchers at the US National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) reported that the administration of the non-psychoactive cannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) reduced ethanol-induced cell death in the brain by up to 60 percent. "This study provides the first demonstration of CBD as an in vivo neuroprotectant ... in preventing binge ethanol-induced brain injury," the study's authors wrote in the May 2005 issue of the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. Alcohol poisoning is linked to hundreds of preventable deaths each year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control, while cannabis cannot cause death by overdose.

Of course, many US neurologists have known about cannabis' neuroprotective prowess for years. NIMH scientists in 1998 first touted the ability of natural cannabinoids to stave off the brain-damaging effects of stroke and acute head trauma. Similar findings were then replicated by investigators in the Netherlands and Italy and, most recently, by a Japanese research in 2005. However, attempts to measure the potential neuroprotective effects of synthetic cannabinoid-derived medications in humans have so far been inconclusive.

(References: Comparison of cannabidiol, antioxidants and diuretics in reversing binge ethanol-induced neurotoxicity. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. 2005 | Cannabidiol prevents cerebral infarction. Stroke. 2005 | Post-ischemic treatment with cannabidiol prevents electroencephalographic flattening, hyperlocomotion and neuronal injury in gerbils. Neuroscience Letters. 2003 | Neuroprotection by Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the main active compound in marijuana, against ouabain-induced in vivo excitotoxicity. Journal of Neuroscience. 2001 | Cannabidiol and Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol are neuroprotective antioxidants. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 1998)

 

^^^Theres your answer.

You say that like DARE and health class are legit resources for information

 

DARE also tells us that Ecstasy eats holes in your brain.

 

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.

 

thank you helped me alot

 

living kills

 

Hahahaha! Techincally this is true.

 

good answers so far. marijuana smoking and brain cell death is not really a problem to be concerned about.

 

DARE is exaggerating a bit, although MDMA (ecstasy) IS neurotoxic (which basically means bad stuff). it may not eat visible holes in your brain, but current research shows that it destroys serotonergic neurons and possibly even dopaminergic networks as well. studies have found that chronic MDMA users (having used ecstasy 80+ times) have substantial trouble with learning and memory tasks/processes as well as with basic executive functioning. this is also thought to contribute to premature cognitive decline as the natural aging process takes its course (based on what MDMA does to the brain this isn't far-fetched, but, as with anything, we'll need studies in the future to say this for SURE).

so what's the point? doing X a few times won't hurt you. however, habitual use will likely take a fairly serious (and irreversible) toll on your brain.

 

bout DARE, i was just sayin that "mj kills brain cells" is the most used argument against mj other then the "gateway drug" one

 

Does it kill Brain Cells? Yes. More importantly, if you smoke it too often, will it leave you dumber than you once were? Guaranteed.

 

please explain

 

as a trend, its pretty undeniable. lots of people loose their wits. others use different wits and get along fine, but probably not the majority, or else the very prominent stereotype probably would not have resulted as it has today

 

I don't understand why a persisting stereotype has anything to do with an actual fact. For instance Dave Chapelle's plays off of stereotypes all the time and while they are funny everyone knows they are generally a broad generalization that emphasises a minority of a group of people rather than a majority.

With that said.. since its not too relevant just the idea of people buying into stereotypes (especially the stoner one which IMO is the most inaccurate I know)

(1) NO BRAIN DAMAGE SEEN IN MARIJUANA-EXPOSED MONKEYS

Two new scientific studies have failed to find evidence
of brain damage in monkeys exposed to marijuana, undercutting
claims that marijuana causes brain damage in humans.
The studies were conducted by two independent
research groups. The first, conducted by Dr. William Slikker,
Jr. and others at the National Center for Toxicological Research
in Arkansas examined some 64 rhesus monkeys, half of which
were exposed to daily or weekly doses of marijuana smoke for
a year. The other, by Gordon T. Pryor and Charles Rebert at SRI
International in Menlo Park, California, which is still
unpublished, looked at over 30 rhesus monkeys that had inhaled
marijuana one to three times a day over periods of 6 to 12
months. Neither study found evidence of structural or
neurochemical changes in the brains of the monkeys when
examined a few months after cessation of smoking.
The new results cast doubt on earlier studies
purporting to show brain damage in animals. The most famous
of these was a study by Dr. Robert Heath, who claimed to find
brain damage in three monkeys heavily exposed to cannabis.
Heath's results failed to win general acceptance in the
scientific community because of the small number of subjects,
questionable controls, and heavy doses.
Subsequent rat experiments by Dr. Slikker and others
reported persistent structural changes in the brain cells of
rats chronically exposed to THC. The studies did not show that
pot kills brain cells, as alleged by some pot critics, but they
did show degeneration of the nerve connections between brain
cells in the hippocampus, where THC is known to be active.
Although scientists have regarded the animal evidence
as inconclusive, some critics have cited it as proof that pot
causes brain damage in humans. Thus Andrew Mecca, the
director of California Department of Alcohol and Drug Abuse,
recently stated on the Ron Reagan, Jr. talk show (Sep. 2, 1991)
that marijuana "leaves a black protein substance in the
synaptic cleft" of brain cells, a claim apparently based on
Heath's monkeys. When asked by a NORML member for his
evidence, Mecca sent a list of three references, none of which
turned out to have anything to do with brain damage.
Although the new monkey studies found no physical
brain damage, they did observe behavioral changes from
marijuana. Slikker's group found that monkeys exposed once a
day to the human equivalent of four or five joints showed
persistent effects throughout the day. Slikker says that the
effects faded gradually after they were taken off marijuana,
and were not detectable seven months later, when they were
sacrificed. Autopsies did reveal lingering chemical changes in
the immune cells in the lungs of monkeys that had inhaled THC.
However, Slikker's group concluded that experimental exposure
to marijuana smoke "does not compromise the general health of
the rhesus monkey."

References:

William Slikker, Jr. et al, "Chronic Marijuana Smoke Exposure in the Rhesus
Monkey," Fundamental and Applied Toxicology 17: 321-32 (1991)

Guy Cabral et al, "Chronic Marijuana Smoke Alters Alveolar Macrophage
Morphology and Protein Expression, Pharmacology Biochemistry and
Behavior 40: 643-9 (1991)

Merle Paule et al., "Chronic Marijuana Smoke Exposure in the Rhesus Monkey
II: Effects on Progressive Ratio and Conditioned Position
Responding," Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
260: 210-22 (1992)

Those are just two studies but I'm sure if you goto Erowid.com or do a google search you can find far more. I found that article in 45 seconds. While I by no means think marijuana is healthy (though this vape I've been using is a dream come true) from what I have read herb DOES NOT kill brain cells. However it could be VERY possible that what your smoking does because since I stopped growing I know the buds I'm smokin aren't organic... and I'm sure smoking chemicals is bad for you.

 

its not a comical stereotype though, its a cultural stereotype. a sadly assumed implication