Medical Marijuana Benefits on Brain Morphology: Holistic View

Brain morphology speaks to structural changes in the brain. Sometime ago a study was conducted that associated medical marijuana benefits in brain morphology but this is not true. A new study was conducted and disproved that hypothesis. A study was conducted in 2014 and reported on ScienceDaily.com stating “the size and shape of two brain regions involved in emotion and motivation may differ in young adults who smoke medical marijuana at least once a week … the findings suggest that recreational marijuana use may lead to previously unidentified brain changes.” In 2015 University of Colorado and University of Louisville investigators conducted a study to assess the medical marijuana benefits on brain morphology. According to norml.org the experiment tested “daily adult and adolescent cannabis users compared to non-users, with a particular focus on whether any differences were identifiable in the nucleus accumbens, amygdala, hippocampus, and the cerebellum.” And investigators reported “no statistically significant differences … between daily users and nonusers on volume or shape in the regions of interest”.

This recent finding challenges the results of the initial experiment that stated otherwise. The investigators of the 2015 study believe it is possible that the previous study failed to properly control the experiment environment and variables and this may have caused their results to be quite flawed.

Norml also stated that researchers concluded, “[I]t seems unlikely that marijuana use has the same level of long-term deleterious effects on brain morphology as other drugs like alcohol. … The press may not cite studies that do not find sensational effects, but these studies are still extremely important.”

This research adds to the ever-increasing research and news supporting more use and commercialization of marijuana cannabis. Medically we are still only in the first stages of discovering the many medical marijuana benefits, and it is quite a versatile herb. Many consumers, doctors and patients have discovered its benefits for treatment of various medical issues. Marijuana treatment is used for diabetes, anti-aging, anxiety and there’s even marijuana cancer treatment. The marijuana industry is also creating jobs through online medical dispensary and medical dispensary shops being opened. Online medical dispensary allows consumers to order pot online for personal and medical cannabis use.

There are also other studies that help to make the case for marijuana use such as the correlation between smarter persons using Pot. A scientific study performed on a group of persons showed that persons who got a high IQ when they were younger were more likely to use marijuana in their adult life. As the time goes by and marijuana becomes legal in more states in America and countries worldwide the research will also increase, some disapproving, and some supporting the undeniable medical marijuana benefits.