Marijuana Makes Blood Rush To Head - Report

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6975

Marijuana makes blood rush to the head

21:00 07 February 2005
NewScientist.com news service
Katharine Davis


Smoking marijuana can affect blood flow in the brain so much that it takes over a month to return to normal. And for heavy smokers, the effects could last much longer, a new study suggests.

Regular marijuana use can harm memory and the ability to make decisions, according to Jean Cadet at the National Institute on Drug Abuse in Baltimore, Maryland, US. To find out why, he monitored the flow of blood through the brains of 54 marijuana smokers, among whom the heaviest user smoked 50 joints every day.

People who smoked cannabis had higher blood flow through their brains than non-users. Yet there was also greater resistance to the blood flow, suggesting that cannabis changes the blood vessels in the brain in a way which hinders oxygen in reaching the tissue effectively. In an attempt to compensate, extra blood is sent to that part of the brain, increasing resistance but probably failing to get enough oxygen through the vessels, Cadet suggests.

Cadet and his colleagues used an extremely sensitive non-invasive technique called transcranial Doppler sonography to "see" the blood flow through individual arteries from the head's surface.

After a month without cannabis - during which the volunteers agreed to remain in a clinic, with no access to marijuana - Cadet repeated the sonography. The resistance to blood flow of light and moderate users - who usually smoked an average of 11 and 44 joints per week, respectively - was starting to return to normal.

Neuropsychological problems

But there was no improvement observed in the heavy users, who smoked an average of 131 joints per week. "We were surprised because we'd expected that as marijuana cleared the system things would improve," says Cadet. He now wants to see if there is a link between the changes in the brain's blood flow and the extent of neuropsychological problems.

To eliminate the effect of tobacco in the joints, Cadet compared his results to those obtained from smokers, who showed normal blood flow. But, says William Notcutt of James Paget Hospital in Norfolk, UK, the longer-term effect on the brain may not have been caused by the same substance that produces the high.

"Somebody smoking 50 joints per day is getting a huge number of carcinogens from the marijuana plant," he notes. "We know the cardiovascular effect [of cannabis] is very complex and multi-factorial so it's not as simple as with other drugs. The group that needs to be studied now is people that use high quality medicinal extracts."

He adds that the results may also be different for people that only smoke marijuana occasionally, and so are exposed to lower doses of the toxic substances.

Journal reference: Neurology (vol 64, p 488)

 

wow

im definetley quitting now

you seem like an intelligent guy from you other posts ive read. but this thread is going to go to hell faster then i am.

 

i hate when they say things like "this guy smokes 50 joints a day" or something. why dont they judge it by the weight of the marijuana? Maybe its just me, but its confusing...

 

Think that occasional use is the key. Like all else that we choose to make our escape in life if it is moderation then the harmful side effects are minimal. If it is not occasional then the side effects are more prevalent.

This is the same for all substance.

Interesting article.

 

"The resistance to blood flow of light and moderate users - who usually smoked an average of 11 and 44 joints per week, respectively - was starting to return to normal."
2-6 joints a day? 6joints is kind of too much for me in one day.

"who smoked an average of 131 joints per week"
10 Joints a day. . . . wow, someone is lucky.

"Somebody smoking 50 joints per day is getting a huge number of carcinogens from the marijuana plant"
Who the fuck smokes 50 joints a day? How much money is that?

 

why the fuck do people always think marijuana is only smoked in a joint (cigarette filled with marijuana), pipe(also known as a bong), or a blunt(cigar cut down the middle and the tobacco replaced with weed)


people are so fucking stupid. I hate joints

 

I'm not sure if I trust NIDA, they are typically full of shit.

 

yeah non stoners do need to learn the tricks of the trade. one hitters/bats, bongs, hammers, shotguns, bubblers, spoons, pipes, joints, blunts, home-mades. my dad used to tell me all the time how smoking paper with that joint is fucking me up, i had never even smoked a joint til like a year after he told me that.

 

Well, considering a lot of the stuff about marijuana is complete bullshit, I wouldnt believe that story.

 

Seriously. Smoking two joints every day is not a light smoker, that's a heavy smoker (at best a moderate smoker). 50 Joints a day is not heavy smoking, its extremely excessive smoking.

Light smoking is smoking on an occasional basis. Like, once or twice a week.

This is an interesting article, but anyone coming away from it can say "light smokers are just as bad off" but the way they defined "light" is misleading at best.

Anyways, I'd kind of thought there might be more bloodflow, it seems that way to me, the way it feels. And maybe that's what encourages all the mental activity (or at least, keeps it supplied with oxygen, as the cells are more active due to the THC).

 

Hey, it's just an article I posted which I found online. I am not taking sides with it. I simply found it to be of interest and thought others might like to read it.

 

well cowpoke, we dont take too kindly to them anti-marijuana studies around these parts.

 

haha rat im just curious do u smoke weed?

50 joints a day, that is just insane... im lucky if i smoke 3 buds a day.

and if it is true, its further proof we need to legalize marijuana.

so that it will be cheaper, and instead of smoking it... we can eat it!

 

Awesome.

Since I smoke less than the minimum range in that study I'll just assume I'm safe. Joy!

 

It's good to be informed, and to reject all evidence to the contrary of the assumption that "marijuana is totally harmless" is ignorant. Nothing is totally harmless, including weed if this article is right (even if it isn't, it's still not psychologically healthy to use it to excess).

 

i know that im jsut razzin him cuz his post is definetley controversial, hence the cowboy talk.

 

"joints" that fucking stupid. may be the people smoking 50 a day smoke joints.so there smoking mostly paper.they could just smoke one joint more weed less paper.



it sounds like there full of shit. they got to get inventiv because people might think pots not so bad.

 

haha 50 joints.. thats over an ounce!! a day!!!

what im sick of is all these tests that show that weed has these little bad aspects. even if this, and most of the tests were true, alchohol and tobacco both caus TONNES more health risks.

That should be the new aim of pro-marijuana protests. have all of the myths associated with marijuana, and have how its fake, but 'even if this is true' statement, and then have hoiw alchohol or cigarettes are 20 million times worse than the claimed problems with marijuana. someone would just need to find a way to get it onto TV at primetime haha like hijack the television stations all over teh world and put a 5 minute docco about how weed is awesome and legal drugs kill you hehe

 

50 joints a day is more than "excessive," id say it crosses the line into "insane"

 

Same here. I swear by best friend, his sister, and I's handmade bongs and hookahs... we make things out of everything from pickle jars to aquarium hose to soda bottles... We've stayed up till 3am stoned off our asses with lighters and flashlights in the garage making things out of shit and listening to music... heh...