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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Smoking marijuana doesn't permanently harm the brain: study
AFP
Saturday 28 Jun 2003 LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Smoking marijuana does not cause long term harm to the brain, researchers from the University of California in San Diego found. The findings, concluded from 15 different studies using well-educated young people to assess the long term impact of the drug on adults' neurocognitive abilities, will be published in the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society's July edition. "We were interested in the question of safety from a neurological point of view" of users of marijuana over a long period of time, said Igor Gray, a professor of psychiatry who led the study. According to the results, though marijuana causes short term harm to memory and learning -- part of the brain's selective memory functions -- it does not cause permanent brain damage. "If there is an effect it is very small," Gray said. The state of California approved a law in 1996 that allows physicians to prescribe cannabis for some patients. A number of US studies currently underway are examining the effects of cannabis and its use as a medicinal drug. Some 704 frequent users of marijuana took part in the survey, as well as 500 people who had never tried it.
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