Hey Dudes!
The current edition of Time.com reports on a recent study about the effects of marijuana on brain cells:
Why Pot May Be Good for your Brain
By Michael Lemonick
Alcohol and most other drugs of abuse are physically bad for brain cells, and you’d naturally expect that marijuana would do the same. Not so, say researchers from the University of Saskatchewan, writing in the latest issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. Xia Zhang and colleagues administered HU210, a synthetic chemical that mimics the action of cannabinoids, the active compounds in pot and hashish, to both embryonic and adult rats. The compound not only didn’t harm brain cells: it actually stimulated the growth of new neurons in the hippocampus of both babies and grownup rats, a part of the brain that helps regulate mood. This new growth, they suggest, can explain some of pot’s anti-anxiety and anti-depressant properties.
So what’s the catch? The drug was given in long-term but relatively low doses. Which means that heavy pot users can’t necessarily get away with claiming it’s entirely good for them.
Although the last part is a little dissapointing, in general this is excellent news for stoners. I’m sure Mr. Wilson will be contacting the University of Saskatchewan researchers to sign up for the human trials on Monday. Added benefit - they even provide you with a bag of Doritos.
The Comments
Mr. Wilson October 16, 2005 at 5:59pm
The data continue to pour exonerating marijuana on a host of charges. And yet pot remains a Schedule I drug. All because politicians—and many Americans—are afraid to admit that they’ve been wrong all along. As a result, ill Americans are denied marijuana’s proven pharmacological benefits, and thousands of recreational users are thrown in jail for the heinous crime of taking what amounts to a happy pill.