http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN0227147420080602?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

Brain scans showed the hippocampus and amygdala were smaller in men who were heavy marijuana users compared to nonusers, the researchers said. The men had smoked at least five marijuana cigarettes daily for on average 20 years.

The hippocampus regulates memory and emotion, while the amygdala plays a critical role in fear and aggression.

The study, published in the American Medical Association's journal Archives of General Psychiatry, also found the heavy cannabis users earned lower scores than the nonusers in a verbal learning task -- trying to recall a list of 15 words.

The marijuana users were more likely to exhibit mild signs of psychotic disorders, but not enough to be formally diagnosed with any such disorder, the researchers said.

Saw that this morning and thought about posting it.

Not sure how accurate it is, doesn't that fly in the face of testing done by Bill and Ted , Cheech and Chong and that guy from cell block C?

5 joints daily for 20 years...rofl. Thats an extreme, I would compare that to drinking about a case a day for 20 years. That drinker would surely be dead from an over worked liver.

Thats nothing. My ex girlfriends parents smoke a lot more than that. of course I totally see that this study is right. They are perfect examples

I smoked way more than 5 doobs a day for only 6 years. Since then I have been drinking about a 6 pack, 5 days a week. I have had way worse memory loss from the beer.

Taleren your thoughts on this /snicker <3

I smoked way more than 5 doobs a day for only 6 years. Since then I have been drinking about a 6 pack, 5 days a week. I have had way worse memory loss from the beer.

Going to need factual reports of this bitte!! Have to show proof that the 5 joints a day weren't the driving force, also account for age, lead paint chips you've eaten and the poison we are forced to breath in.

!!!

Man, smoking 5 joints a day seems insane to me. That's a pretty good economic investment, and you'd be walking around in a haze all the time.

Taleren your thoughts on this /snicker <3


I've been a pot smoker for probably 10 years, but never have I smoked as much as this study quotes. I am also on vacation atm, so I don't want to spend much time talking about this.


All I will comment is that 5+ joints a day is very very very extreme usage. When I have pot, I may smoke 2 bowls a day (I generally don't smoke joints), and that two bowls is less pot than even one joint.

I wouldn't doubt heavy usage such as this would affect cognitive function, but like someone said, this would be equivalent to a huge drinking problem. It would also be the equivalent of smoking 5 packs of cigarettes a day. How much do you think smoking 5 packs of cigarettes a day would effect a person?

The problem with the approach taken in the study is the lack of concern the users will show toward that organ shrinking. Now, if you were to be able to show shrinkage of another organ, a bit lower on the anatomy, you might get some smokers to pay attention.