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On February 2, 2017, Psychiatrist.com published the case of a 20-year old man who went into psychosis from first time marijuana use. The paper reveals: “Several first-time, non-chronic cannabis users have presented to our clinic with psychosis or thought disorders lasting months after first- or second-time cannabis use.” The authors work at Columbia University Department of Psychiatry and the New York State Psychiatric Institute.
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“It is beyond epidemic proportions. There truly is a tidal wave of Alzheimers disease", says, Dr. Fortanasce. An estimated 200,000 people in the United States un rage 65 are living with younger onset Alzheimers disease. And hundreds of thousands more are coping with mild cognitive impairment, a precursor to Alzheimers and other dementia. Through his research, Dr. Vincent Fortanasce, a clinical professor of neurology in Southern California, believes that there may be a link between chronic use of marijuana, especially when started at a young age - and Alzheimers.
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Anandamide regulates how active neurons are, and how much neurotransmitter they release. This acts as a sort of ‘dimmer’ switch, slowing down communication between cells and keeping all the circulating chemicals on an even keel and in balance (homeostasis). Levels of the neurotransmitters, dopamine, serotonin, endorphins etc for pleasure, mood, appetite, motivation, body movement, cognition, concentration. memory, brain development etc are all kept in balance by anandamide.
But THC is much stronger and persistent. Being foreign to the body it has no enzymes to break it down, it is fat-soluble so remains in the fatty brain cells, around 50% for a week, 10% for a month, with traces for weeks afterwards, all the time giving out signals and interfering with total brain functioning.
Even one joint/month will ensure a permanent presence of THC, and as Professor Sir Robin Murray says, ‘users will be in a state of low grade intoxication most of the time’.
Anandamide is overwhelmed - the whole brain chemical signalling system is thrown into chaos. And the general excitability of the brain’s neural networks is greatly reduced.
See also How does marijuana produce its effects? How does marijuana produce its effects?
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Download our latest Marijuana Education Toolkit to inform yourself and others!
Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM's) Toolkit includes information about the health risks of marijuana, data showing links between marijuana use and other drugs…. You can use these educational briefs to inform not just lawmakers, but also community leaders, friends, and anyone else interested in this important subject.
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Regular marijuana use by teens can stop the brain from maturing. This new study is the first to establish a causal link between repeated cannabinoid exposure during adolescence and an interruption of the normal maturation processes in the prefrontal cortex, a region in the brain's frontal lobe, which regulates decision making and working memory and undergoes critical development during adolescence.
Scientists at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, IL