Yes, the headline above is sort of tongue-in-cheek, but it’s just possible that smoking pot might be a boon to memory training! Researchers at Ohio State University, lead by Yannick Marchalant, gave older rats injections of a marijuana-like drug, known as WIN-55212-2. The use of this drug resulted in a reduction of inflammation and the growth of new brain cells.
Inflammation is linked to horrible Alzheimers disease. An inflammation in the brain disrupts memory and cognitive capacity by destroying brain cells and the Ohio State study’s goal is to find ways to reduce this ‘fire in the brain’.
Older rats, whose brains were already inflamed, were injected with WIN-55212-2, while other rats were untouched. All rats were then put into a pool of water. Result: the rats with WIN injections found hidden resting places much more quickly and often than untouched rats.
However, NORML and pot smokers take note: the amount given to the rats was equal to only about one puff a day! Heavy pot use has an alternate effect. A safer path to brain training involves mentally stimulating activities such as puzzles, learning a new language, drawing and reading.
gigi says
It is also very well known that smoking also helps the brain perform better so it is just another evidence that drugs in small amount are helpfull.
Think about the vaccines .All are made from viruses,only major thing is that the viruses are in a small amount so the body fights against them and trains our body to resist another similar virus attack
Sid says
As a law abiding citizen I can’t support the use of illegal substance. I do wonder if the chemical that produces that affect can be created synthetically.
Amanda says
Very well written, and very interesting. I do not believe marijuana should be legalized, but I do understand that there may be benefits in small amounts. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if they could help Alzheimer patients!!! Thank you for such an interesting blog.
Ginger says
The only problem with this is that many pot smokers won’t be able or want to stop with just the one puff. If they did so, sure they might do some good to their brains. But most potheads seem to forget things like what they just did 5 minutes ago because they smoke too much. Oh, the dilemna!
Amber says
So what if you smoke pot AND do puzzles? Wouldn’t that be a brain duo? I don’t think that smoking pot makes you forget, I think that smoking pot with doing all the other things you did with it makes you forget. All the more reason to legalize pot — with puzzles of course.
Harold says
This is an interesting contribution to the debate over whether marijuana should be legalized in the United States. Clearly there are those who abuse the drug by using large amounts of highly refined product, but it seems that small doses could be beneficial. This study is a bit tough for me though because I’m against animal testing in principle, but my father’s aunt suffered from Alzheimer’s disease.
Gwen4045 says
Science has shown that there are more positives than negatives in smoking marijuana. Up to this point in time, all of the evidence presented so far has made it clear that when it comes to the issue of marijuana for therapeutic and alike use, the benefits outweigh the risks.