Stronger Cannabis Increases The Risk Of Memory Loss

[grace]

People who smoke strong strains of cannabis are at greater risk of memory loss than those who smoke other types of the drug, according to new research.

Experts writing in the British Journal of Psychiatry called for cannabis users to be made aware of the risks associated with some strains of cannabis, and encouraged to use varieties with higher levels of the extract cannabidiol instead.

 

Cannabidiol and THC are two major constituents of cannabis. THC is the main psychoactive ingredient that makes users feel "stoned", and produces psychotic-like symptoms such as delusions and paranoia.

 

In contrast, cannabidiol does not induce these symptoms and may counteract the effects of THC. Levels of cannabidiol in cannabis can range from almost none to up to 40 per cent.

 

University College London researchers found that people smoking cannabis with a low cannabidiol content performed much worse on memory tests when they were intoxicated. In contrast, those smoking cannabis high in cannabidiol performed just as well on the tests when they were intoxicated.

 

Author: Lyndsay Moss

Date: 1 October 2010

Source: News.scotsman.com

http://news.scotsman.com/news/Stronger-cannabis-increases-the-risk.6559743.jp

[Innocent criminal]

How do these studies expect to be taken seriously when they report it thickly layered in govt approved drivel??

 

I grow skunk#1, supposedly a high THC strain, yet it doesn't mess up my head anywhere near as much as some other much more sativa tending strains I've tried.

Could it possibly be that the high THC strains were simply making the subjects comparatively more wasted??

 

PS. Isn't the title a little misleading? They say nothing about permanent memory loss, the test was conducted on people while under the influence, not after long term consumption.

Who knows how much relationship there is between temporary and permanent memory loss?? I'm pretty sure they don't.

Edited October 1, 2010 by TheHeadCing

[snooch]

and encouraged to use varieties with higher levels of the extract cannabidiol instead.

 

I'm not sure who these "experts" are, but the two legal, pharma prescribed versions of canna:

 

1. Sativex. Very high in cannabidiol levels because that has been found to help with the spacticity/convulsions/spasms with such ailments as MS.

 

2. Marinol. The opposite. Very high levels of THC, but very low levels of cannabidiol. But it is very effective for cancer patients to reduce nauseu/vomiting etc.

 

I can't help but wonder, given this was in the British Journal of Psychiatry whether or not they'd rather we take the big pharma drugs whose side effects not only include memory loss, but also death...

[Frazz]

ahhh ... bugger, there was something i was gunna say about this but i forget what it was !!!

 

[MongyMan]

What was this thread about again?

[The Hash Nibbler]

Sorry, wot was the question again?....................... . These idiots make me laugh. Everybody forgets shit when they're baked, but it's not permenant.

Now if I can just remember where I put my car keys. Gh72

[cybergenesis]

Sorry I have been meaning to post on this forum for days.. But I got some really strong bud, and I forgot this forum existed. Indeed I forgot how to use my computer.. Errr. Can't remember what I was talking about.

[Fibrofeend]

Yeah you know your in trouble when your pissing in the kitchen sink!

[Paladin]

Ha. I remember where I am - I just wish I could forget the rest of you

 

I don't have a problem with this study personally. Short term memory is indeed affected (varying user to user and strain to strain) while high. It might be useful to nail down exactly how this works to help those who are using canna medicinally for, say, pain relief without the cognitive distortion. CBD is well worth investigation around this, functioning as it does as a thc antagonist. It would be good, I reckon, to find a high cbd and thc strain for justthis reason.

 

On balance, I think anything that deepens our understanding of this plant helps us in the long run.

 

I can see how the media would spin this, though. The headline given to this post is a classic example - meaning something very different to an uninformed browser than it would to someone who is engaged with the research.

 

In short - let's save our rage for the media and those politicians and other instruments of the state who are trying to misinform. We need more scientists researching cannabis, and every bit helps.

 

PS: I don't buy the marinol etc comparison as cannabis is a vastly more complex interaction between a vastly greater number of chemicals than the synthesised options. In truth, we don't know what role many of the lesser-researched compounds in cannabis do, and they may prove both benign and necessary to replicate in a proper synthetic.