Researchers at UC San Diego and the University of Pittsburgh announced
the results of a study that regular marijuana use doesn't damage brain
tissue, while routine drinking does.
The brains of 92 young people -- ages 16 to 20 -- were
scanned by UC San Diego researchers over 18 months. The participants
with histories of alcohol and marijuana use, about half, continued
using. The other half abstained or maintained minimal use. The study
observed physical brain tissue, not overall performance of the
participants.
The before-and-after scans showed that teens drinking at
least 5 drinks per week had reduced brain tissue health -- possibly
leading to declines in attention span, memory and decision-making. The
brain tissue of teens who used only marijuana up to 9 times per week
showed no physical damage.
"If teens decrease their tissue health and cognitive
ability to inhibit themselves, they might become more likely to engage
in risky behavior like excessive substance use."
Joanna Jacobus, UC San Diego
Alcohol use "becomes a cycle," Jacobus said, because teens
who drink regularly damage areas of the brain that influence
self-control and judgment. She said marijuana may not be as harmful in
part because different strains of the plant have varying intensities and
some "may actually have neuroprotective effects."
Researchers couldn't definitively say why alcohol was
damaging while marijuana was not and cautioned that more research was
needed. They also couldn't say if the damaged brain tissue was
permanent. The study will be published in the journal "Alcoholism:
Clinical & Experimental Research."
The National Institutes of Health
(NIH) released results of a survey Dec. 18 that showed nearly 23% of
12th graders said they had smoked marijuana in the last month. The
survey found about 6.5% of high school seniors smoke marijuana daily, up
from 6% a decade ago and 2.4% in 1993.
No comments:
Post a Comment