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Does marijuana lower my IQ? Can marijuana actually raise my IQ?

In a press release accompanying the study, lead author Claire Mokrysz noted that "this is a potentially important public health message- the belief that cannabis is particularly harmful may detract focus from and awareness of other potentially harmful behaviours." Reviewer Guy Goodwin of Oxford University agreed: "the current focus on the alleged harms of cannabis may be obscuring the fact that its use is often correlated with that of other even more freely available drugs and possibly lifestyle factors. These may be as or more important than cannabis itself."

There is no doubt that marijuana helps open the mind to new possibilities and has great advantages for artists and creative talents alike. Continue reading “Does marijuana lower my IQ? Can marijuana actually raise my IQ?” →

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August 28, 2015 4

Does marijuana make you depressed? THC is actually mimicking something already found in our body!

What makes us depressed? Depression is closely related to lower levels of dopamine, but generally it is due to an imbalance in neurotransmitters in your brain. Your body is constantly striving for homeostasis or balance, including with these! When they are out of whack, your body actively is striving to get it back. Our neurotransmitters become out of balance from a lot of things, though the people today are much more prone than ever before for this to happen. Why? Poor diet makes it impossible for our body to make what it needs because we aren't giving it the proper ingredients. Activities that we fail to complete are also a cause. Some neurotransmitters are stimulated by being around other people , completing a goal, etc. Basically, if you aren't doing things to make you happy, you aren't going to be happy. Drugs give us only a fake sense of happiness by supplying us with the neurotransmitters we crave. Usually, each drug only affects one of them, and will send them out of whack. Dopamine is the most notable, but the other ones also directly affect your mood and even cognitive abilities. You want them all to be present, not just one taking over... which will leave you completely void later. You can take most of these things in supplement pill forms, but you can just as easily get out there and make yourself happy. Does marijuana lower dopamine levels, making you sad? Unlike other drugs including alcohol and cocaine, marijuana does not actually force you to produce more dopamine. This is why the addiction rate is relatively low (one in ten users) .Instead, it produces less GAMA (which works opposite to dopamine sort of ).Your brain will eventually start to destroy the CB1 receptors that anandamide or marijuana cling to to compensate for the lower GAMA (homeostasis).This causes less blood to get to the brain as well as oxygen, which causes memory loss, attention deficiencies and learning disability. Your body does not know that you are just trying to get high and actually thinks something is wrong with you, but if you quit smoking weed, your levels will slowly rise back up back to normal. There have been several studies with conflicting results whether or not marijuana lowers dopamine levels. One study proved that to be true, but it could also just be due to the fact that most people who do drugs have a mental disorder already , thus low dopamine. So the problem was already there and is just being masked with marijuana, just like other drugs are legally used for this like Xanax or Ritalin. If you are under the age of 25, your brain is likely still developing making it a very bad idea to use marijuana chronically. Your brain needs time to grow uninterrupted, or else you can notice permanent damage. Some pot smokers in a research study had IQ's ten points lower than when they were tested as an adolescent due to smoking chronically beginning at a young age. Those who smoked chronically after adulthood had no change. This can increase your chances of having mental disorder also because you are tapping directly into the chemical balance in your head while it is still developing. Does marijuana reduce my sensitivity to dopamine? Nora Volkow from the US National Institute of Drug Abuse did a study on twenty four marijuana users and non users to record the effects of methylphenidate used in treatment for ADHD and narcolepsy by stimulating dopamine production. The chosen marijuana smokers had to partake at least five times a day five days a week for five decades. Both groups produced the same amount of dopamine, though their sensations were blunted on the pot smoking side. The smokers felt restless and anxious, though their heart rate and blood pressure were lower than non smokers. It has been said before that marijuana raises your heart rate. Also as I mentioned earlier, marijuana doesn't actually raise your dopamine levels. I believe over time,CB1 receptors are removed to compensate for the extra dopamine floating around, which may make you react less. It's a confusing matter honestly. Supposedly, the pot smokers generally had a more negative attitude than the latter. Researchers believe that the reward center is what is being damaged or the ventral striatum. Its concluded that marijuana smokers get less joy out of things that non smokers would fine pleasurable which only makes sense since they do not know they joy of smoking , so they can't compare it. How can marijuana affect me short term? Here are some symptoms that may be associated with someone abusing marijuana , though mostly temporary: loss of motivation, listlessness, loss of emotional and spiritual growth, disrupted hormones, lower IQ, loss of interest in pursuing goals, apathy, anxiety, impaired learning and memory, dull emotions, brain fog and more similar ailments. My though here though is that these are kind of the reasons why I use marijuana... because I am trying to chill out and not do anything at all... "Wow this marijuana really woke me up" said no one. Forgetfulness is one of the popular symptoms or marijuana use, but this could actually be useful for someone who has experienced a traumatic event they wish to move on from. Everything has a purpose if you look for it. Many artists use this forgetfulness as a way to improv new comedy and art. It makes them easier to get into the flow of things and come up with new ideas that could have been originally stifled while you were only recalling older ideas because your brain is locked. Marijuana has many other medical effects: broncho-dilation, anti-carcinogenic, decreased intracranial and intra-ocular pressure, glucagon release, anti-nociceptive,reduced insulin tolerance, lymphocyte suppression,antiemetic,anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, anticonvulsant, antipsychotic ,psychotomimetic and more. Is marijuana harmful? Compared to the medication that is widely accepted and taken today by the masses, marijuana is actually nontoxic. There is a reported lethal amount, but it is almost impossible to reach by anyone... even a cyborg Bob Marley. Though edibles make it a lot easier to take high amounts at once, they also are used very irresponsibly is why. The high takes longer to kick in than with traditional smoking methods, but newbies rarely are told this tidbit of information and will keep scarfing down brownie until it is gone, still complaining about how weak it is until twenty more minutes pass. BE PATIENT. They scarf down amounts that are supposed to get you high probably ten times, then have intense highs that can't even be experienced from smoking marijuana. When it is processed through the liver (like when taken as an edible), marijuana can cause hallucinations and is reportedly four times more intense. Have deaths been caused by marijuana? If you do look in to the deaths reportedly caused by cannabis, there is no real proof that it was actually the cannabis. There have been at least three deaths supposedly caused by marijuana edibles, though none by overdose. Levy Thamba Pongi at age 19 would take a leap to her death from a Denver hotel after ingesting pot cookies. Kristine Kirk at the age of 44 was fatally shot by Richard Kirk who allegedly was experiencing hallucinations after taking pot candy with prescription medications. Most recently, Luke Goodman at the age of 23 shot himself at the Colorado Keystone Ski Area after ingesting 50mg of tetrahydrocannabinol. Keep in mind the recommended dose to be "high" is 10mg for the non regular smoker, so this person over did it by a bit. As you can see, the connection here to marijuana is vague. With due respect to the families of the fallen parties, these just aren't effects that marijuana produces. I have smoked a lot of weed... and never have I considered killing myself. I feel like killing myself when I am not high to be honest! Marijuana is definitely a drug, but in a medical sense as well. Certain people's brains are set up a little different such as chemical imbalances caused by mental disorder and such. In these cases, marijuana can have bad effects since it is another chemical coming into your brain, throwing it off balance. Not everyone can smoke pot just like not everyone can eat jello. Though it really doesn't happen when you smoke, edibles reportedly do cause hallucinations. This gentleman also took his marijuana medication with another medication. You have to be sure that they are going to go safely together.. just like any other drug. As I mentioned earlier, marijuana doesn't really make you violent... it notoriously does the opposite. Someone who can flip the switch like that would have likely done it without the creative assistance of cannabis eventually. The last gentleman also committed suicide, but I just can't believe that it was from taking marijuana this one time. It could even be possible in both situations that both of the suicide victims just wanted to be relaxed before passing. These deaths still are nothing in comparison to the deaths caused yearly by alcohol, fast food, tobacco, caffeine and a plethora of other things that are completely legal. Alcohol alone takes roughly six lives a day in America and there are only handfuls of death caused by marijuana, which probably weren't even caused by marijuana. Is marijuana linked to mental disorder? Those who suffer from depression have reported to have suicidal thoughts after quitting marijuana. This isn't the marijuana doing this.. it is incredibly low levels of dopamine. You just suddenly took the number one source away, so your body is begging for it back! Those who suffer from depression already have low levels of dopamine, so yes getting attached to a new form of dopamine and then taking away... is going to be worse than if you just left your brain alone. Nobody likes a tease. 85% or adolescents with substance abuse problems suffer from a mental condition and those with ADHD are the most frequent (they are said to have addictive personalities). In small doses though, marijuana has proved incredibly helpful for ADHD patients who are to able to focus, control impulses, control anger and be relaxed in general. They also suffer from low dopamine levels, which is what makes them more prone to addiction. Psycho-stimulants are usually used as treatment for ADHD which stimulate dopamine release, unlike marijuana. This makes for a more naturally feeling for ADHD patients, who often prefer the more natural marijuana while amphetamines feel artificial. They also make it very difficult to sleep and eat, while marijuana is infamous for making you want to sleep and eat which is great since those are two ways many ADHD patients are actively harmed .Your body is ALWAYS looking for chemical balance, even if it means doing drugs to do it. Marijuana could be a better source for them than the pills they are using now, though. Marijuana has also been used in treatment of autism by relieving the overstimulation-related emotional anxiety and tension that inhibits their behavior. Some evidence points towards autism being caused by abnormalities in cannabinoid signaling, so marijuana may rebalance it for some. Autism has been said to be caused by too much glutamate and not enough GABA, while marijuana suppresses both at once. Marijuana also reduces the volume of fluid in the head following head injury, lowers brain temperature and prevents prion accumulation, all of which protect against brain damage. You also will experience a reduced risk in Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. So marijuana can be used to rebalance homeostasis for someone suffering mental disorder, but in no means is it a cure. What areas of the brain are mostly affected by marijuana ? The hippocampus, cerebral cortex, cerebellum and basal ganglia contain endocannabinoid receptors in high concentration, so their functions are what can be impaired when using marijuana the most specifically though this is different for other drugs . The hippocampus is vital for learning and memory, the cerebellum regulates coordination and balance, the basal ganglia is involved with controlling movement and the cerebral cortex has functions like decision making, problem solving, memory, vision, language, perception, information processing and more. Are drugs the only reason our neurotransmitters would be out of balance? Neurotransmitters control our mood, so we should obviously be careful with altering them... but you would be surprised to know that this epidemic is becoming more common every day. Drugs are the easiest source for us to get a surplus of neurotransmitters which we are desperately craving, but what you body is really striving for is balance. If you have a poor diet, your neurotransmitters are definitely out of whack. Your body is not getting the nutrition needed to build the neurotransmitters in the first place so even supplementing would not help. Drugs however provide a synthetic form of these neurotransmitters that by pass all these rules and jump right in to the party! Clearly, your brain is going to beg for these drugs back! Arachidonic acid is very important for building neurotransmitters and is an essential amino acid found in hemp seeds. Chronic stress, brain trauma, poor living environments and many other things can contribute to neurotransmitter deficiency. Today, we are more antisocial than ever! We also are not receiving the feel good chemicals from human interaction which leaves us depressed. Everything your body does is really an effort to get these neurotransmitters in balance and make you happy, even eating food and having sex! Happiness is your reward for doing what you are supposed to do, so go do stuff! Today more than ever, we are prone to depression and anxiety directly caused by our weird living habits. People who have social attitudes and are generally extrovert tend to have higher dopamine levels. All depression medications as well as those for other mental disabilities are geared towards balancing out these chemicals which solely dictate our emotions, but these drugs are more harmful than non toxic marijuana which you can not overdose on. There are also side effects to take into account for those and the addiction rates. Marijuana is relatively low for addiction because it doesn't actually increase dopamine, but decreases GAMA and glutamate.

Please, do not take this 100% to heart.
Continue reading “Does marijuana make you depressed? THC is actually mimicking something already found in our body!” →

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