Does marijuana really fry your brain cells?

Answer 1

Mmmmm, all the voices of experience above eh?

Hate to tell you all, but I personally know of a few different professionals that are in their 40's and been daily/nearly daily users of weed since the 1970's.

A few of us take online IQ tests and play "who is the smarter". Most of our test results have gone up over time (the past 4-5 years).

There has never been a definitive medical study that shows that marijuana fries brain cells. Just anecdotal evidence. Part of the problem with the statistical bs that the government shoves down are throats, is that mainly the stupid (to begin with) drug users are only people in these studies. They tend to come from poorer, less educated homes, and they are not the ones out working jobs and pulling themselves up by their bootstraps.

The ones that keep it together, gain educations, take professional jobs, and "maintain" don't get arrested. So they don't get thrown into these studies.

And because of the blind prohibition laws, they don't dare come forward and announce their use either.

So, in answer to your question, marijuana does not fry brain cells. Not using your brain and maintaining stupidity fries your brain cells.

Answer 2

No. This is just a scare tactic used to "poison the well."

Let me ask you a question. If I hung a sign at a drinking fountain stating" do not drink from this fountain, known to cause brain fever." Would you ignore the sign?
The water is fine. The scare made the difference.

This is what the State and Federal governments do in the case of marijuana. Plant the seed of fear into the minds of the ignorant.
They tell these lies to try to stem the flow of US currency to other countries. Not to mention, the potential loss of a tax base commodity due to it’s illegality.

Answer 3

Here's some interesting research results:

High Times for Brain Growth: Marijuana-like drug multiplies neurons
Christen Brownlee

In the stoner stereotype, pot smokers and dying brain cells go hand in hand. However, new research suggests the situation may be more uplifting than that. A drug that functions as concentrated marijuana does may spur neurogenesis, the process by which the brain gives birth to new nerve cells.

Previous research had suggested that neurogenesis happens only in select locations in the brain, such as the hippocampus, a region involved in learning and memory. Some studies have shown that this process is inhibited by most illicit drugs, such as cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine. However, says Xia Zhang of the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, marijuana's effect on neurogenesis has not been clear.

He and his colleagues started investigating this mystery by searching cell surfaces in live, cultured slices of rat hippocampus for receptors that respond to marijuana and a few other similar drugs, called cannabinoids. They reasoned that if marijuana affected neurogenesis in the hippocampus, then cells in that area must have a way to recognize the drug. Sure enough, 95 percent of hippocampus cells responsible for neurogenesis showed evidence of cannabinoid 1 (CB1) receptors, one of two receptors that respond to cannabinoid drugs.

Next, Zhang's team incubated samples of rat hippocampus with a solution containing HU210, a drug that stimulates CB1 receptors with a strength 100 times greater than that of pot. Other rat-hippocampus cells were incubated with the same solution minus the drug or with AM281, a drug that blocks CB1 receptors. After 2 days, the researchers found a significant increase in the number of new brain cells in the samples incubated with HU210, but no significant increase of such cells in the other samples.

Finally, the researchers injected adult rats with various doses of HU210. A single high-dose injection seemed to make no significant difference in the number of new nerve cells. However, animals injected with high daily doses of the drug over the course of 2 weeks had about 30 percent more newborn nerve cells than did rats given AM281 or a solution without either drug.

Animals given the 2-week course of HU210 also showed less anxiety and depressionlike behavior than did rats not given the drug. When the researchers irradiated the rats' hippocampi with X rays, which kill off new neurons, animals given HU210 responded to these tests much as did animals that didn't receive the drug. These results suggest that, while these new neurons probably don't increase intelligence, they could be responsible for antianxiety and antidepressive effects, says Zhang.

He and his team report their findings in the November Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Answer 4

I smoke a joint and watch jeopardy and always win...If i wasn't such a pothead and gotten out of the house.. i may have had a shot at wiping Ken Jennings off the map....Armchair Jeopardy Champion 2006

Answer 5

no...in fact cannabinoids found in marijuana cells are actually found in your brain...it uses them as a buffer for electrical currents

Answer 6

If you use enough of it and over a long period of time (say years), it can have a detrimental effect on your thought processes.

I've never seen any good come from long term (chronic) use of cannabis (marijuana).

Cheers!

Answer 7

They say it does, but I have known people who use it in moderation and they seem fine! So far it has only been since 1966 and they are average people, successful.

Answer 8

Yes, I hear it does. But I also hear Diet soda can cause cancer. So basically everything can lead to or cause something.

Answer 9

No, it can fry eggs though if you put it in butter.

Answer 10

What's worse being stupid, or having lung, throat, or mouth cancer? Either way it makes you look disgusting, especially females. On top of that you can never think straight.