What a topic of conversation.
Smoking weeds can certainly affect the brain, not only the possibility of serious delusions.
A study published last week found that ER visits for cannabis use among people over 65 years old have skyrocketed, and older people needing acute care to be up to 72% more likely to develop dementia.
A new study is currently being published Jama Psychiatry I identified another surprising change in Stoner’s brain.
This study revealed that people with cannabis use disorder (CUD), that is, they use weeds enough to cause problems and damage your life – but altered the brain’s dopamine activity, which closely resembles the patterns observed in psychosis.
Using MRIS, researchers found an increase in dopamine-related signals in the midbrain region among cannabis users.
This area is important for motivation and reward processing; It was previously linked For psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions.
The more you use it, the bigger the problem
The study focused on people aged 18 to 35 years. Heavy cannabis users significantly increased neuromelanin MRI signals, which measure the function of the happy hormone dopamine, in certain brain regions associated with the severity of psychosis.
This increase is most prominent among people with more severe cannabis use disorders, indicating a dose-related pattern.
This is not the first time that smoking weeds have been associated with a high risk of psychosis.
For example, a 2024 Research We found that frequent use of high-performance pots increased the likelihood of psychosis independent of genetic predisposition.
“We hope this study will help inform you of potential risks associated with harmful cannabis use, particularly those with a family history of psychosis and other factors that may increase vulnerability.” I told psypost.
Losing contact with reality?
An unexpected finding was that people with cannabis use disorder did not report more personal issues due to weed dependence.
“This indicates that individuals with cannabis use disorder have a lower perception of harm despite the higher measured severity,” Ahlence said.
The findings are important in light of widespread legalization of marijuana in New York, predicting regulators will double the number of legal cannabis stores in New York this year.
Although it was good for business, critics say that riding the Ganja train caused a metro crime in the city.
Despite its reputation as a “safer” drug, recent studies have also shown that smoking pots can increase the risk of cancer and speed up aging.
“The biggest problem is that it’s time to become a drug for schedule 1 [in 1970]which made it very difficult to do a very clear, double-blind, placebo-controlled study,” Dr. Ken Weinberg, Cannabis doctor in New YorkI posted it before.
“I don’t think there’s enough data.”
