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Harvard Study says smoking weed improves brain function

4K views 26 replies 12 participants last post by  kantowrestler 
#1 ·
HARVARD STUDY: SMOKING WEED IMPROVES BRAIN FUNCTIONS

Recent findings that have been published in Frontiers in Pharmacology have indicated that ,marijuana does, indeed, improve cognitive performance.

Researchers from McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Tufts University have begun preliminary investigations that have found incredible benefits from the plant’s use, including the improvement to “our ability to utilize the knowledge acquired by mental processes in our brains.”

24 patients were studied over a three-month history. The patients were consistently measured with cognitive testing, including the Stroop Color Word Test and the Trail Making Test.

They found the patients did extremely well on the tests.

From a McLean Hospital report:

After three months of medical marijuana treatment, patients actually performed better, in terms of their ability to perform certain cognitive tasks, specifically those mediated by the frontal cortex,” explained Staci Gruber, PhD, director of the Marijuana Investigations for Neuroscientific Discovery (MIND) program at McLean Hospital.

Study participants also reported improvements in their specific clinical conditions, sleep, and overall health as well as a decreased use of conventional medications, particularly opiates.

We saw a 42 percent reduction in opioid use,” reported Gruber. “This is significant, particularly for those of us in Massachusetts and other areas of the country where the opioid epidemic is ravaging so many. This preliminary finding certainly warrants deeper and broader investigation.
More tests continue to be implemented and required to fully figure out what, exactly, this herb can do for us. As part of our history and shoved into an irrational prohibition for most of the 20th century, it can bring us our health back in so many ways if we start taking it seriously.

And, as Gruber points out, “people are going to use it. It’s up to us to figure out the very best and safest ways in which they can do that.”
http://www.anonews.co/harvard-study-marijuana/

A thousand :laugh: are not enough for this.
 
#3 ·
#7 ·
My friend just got done building a pirate themed rickshaw out of a wheelchair and wood. It's pirate themed, it has skulls carved into the wood and pirate flags and daggers and crazy shit. He smokes weed daily and just said he got bored so he wanted to build something. So, yeah, weed increasing brain function makes sense.
 
#9 ·
I'm absolutely for legalising marijuana, but I'm quite sceptical about this study. It doesn't tell much about the research set up. 24 people are quite a low number (but I know that in these kind of studies it's considered enough). They don't say anything about a control group that did the same tests in the same time without marijuana usage and how they would score. Improving in those tests can be just a normal effect of never having done this kind of test at the start and then becoming familiar with it, so of course you get better at it. I can see how moderate usage can at times help with creativity as it alters your perception, but there are tons of researches that showed (strong) usage actually kills brain cells.

It's been proven though that it outperforms many pharmaceutics in certain fields and reduces the need for heavy pharmaceutics with big side effects while having only little side effects itself. Alone for that it has to be legalised.

On a related note:

Uruguay to become first country to fully legalize marijuana
http://www.dw.com/en/uruguay-to-become-first-country-to-fully-legalize-marijuana/a-38332612

So there (as a citizen, but not as a tourist) you can
- buy marijuana (in the amount for self consumption) at the pharmacy at a price under that of the black market
- be a member of a club that grows in the amount for self consumption of its members
- grow yourself in the amount of self consumption

That's the way to go to fight organised drug crime. You kill their business model.

And on a side note, Uruguay is heading towards 100% clean energy, being at 95% at the moment. Western countries talk, others just do.

Sounds like a country of the future. :thumbsup:
 
#10 ·
I think legalization makes more sense now than it did before. When I was smoking it as a teenager, I thought it seemed like a bad idea. People are stupid and with the amount of absolute wrecks around, making it easier for them seemed like a bad idea. But people seem smarter and more aware of the world now. Less people than ever are standing behind the garages smoking ***s before school. So getting rid of the criminal aspect seems logical.

I never typically believe "scientific studies" because the next study from the same university could have conflicting results. The majority of the time people are looking for these results before they start the study because that way it means they are "finding something out".
 
#12 ·
I'm around greens pretty much everyday at work. Everyone smokes. Personally I feel it enhances my creative thinking, but certainly slows my reflexes. Some actually play games better as it helps them focus and not get on tilt. For that reason I do feel it is a PED. Tons of athletes smoke it.

I've been enjoying edibles more lately. Anybody try dabs...
 
#13 ·
Like I said this study can be used as a case as to why it is a PED though that is not originally why I think it should be on the banned substance list. Either way like I said this can be used to keep it on the banned substance list and I don't think it'll ever be off the banned substance list. Also tons of athletes smoke it is not a good argument.
 
#15 ·
That's essentially what weed is in California and any other state that it's legal. If there is any downgrading that should be done it should be as you said which is to classify it as a controlled substance similar to alcohol. One wouldn't test positive for alcohol on fight night and really people shouldn't be testing positive for it on fight night regardless of how long the metabolites are in one's system.
 
#18 · (Edited)
Well, definitely! Not to mention it helps me with my anxiety and insomnia. Weed is a gift from GOD! Too bad not many people see and understand this. There's this stigma of 'drugs' around it, so people perceive it as something terrible. Once those people smoke a joint, I can promise you they'll change their opinion, lol. My cousin was so against it until she took a few hits. Never the same again, hahaha! Weed fellas and non-weed ones, you can find more about weed's benefits here. The internet is only praising it, and I've never seen people complain about smoking. Only good, positive vibes!!!!
 
#24 · (Edited)
Unfortunately, this only works in small doses. The amount of gray matter increases in the brain after using marijuana. However, a person does not become smarter because of this. A negative effect can occur even if smoking occurs rarely. That’s why I usually use https://www.wildorchardhemp.com/product-category/delta-8-thc-gummies/. Btw, the human brain changes after one or two times of marijuana use. The changes concern the special part of the brain. These receptors respond to narcotic substances.
 
#26 · (Edited)
The calming effect of weed could correlate with better regulation of brain function. Reduced distractions. Both of which correlate with better decisions and higher intelligence.

Its hard to say what effects marijuana has. Most major studies used weed bought off the streets. Samples which could have been tainted with pesticides and other toxins.

I think its generally agreed multi tasking and distractions reduce intelligence and performance. The way a person driving their car and talking on their cell phone would expect driving IQ to fall. Weed trends towards an opposite effect. It helps eliminate distractions. Cuts down on doubts, anxiety and worry. Which could correlate with higher IQ.

Intelligence correlates with knowledge. Weed won't expand a person's vocabulary or knowledge base. It won't make the brain bigger. It can only build on the existing information people have and remember.
 
#27 ·
Yeah but that's assuming as you pointed out it isn't tainted by something that can make a person go genuinely crazy while they are high. That is the problem is that there's too many factors involved with that. I've always been in support of the CBD medicinal uses and think those should be used, but will always be against recreational weed.
 
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