Last week several news networks covered the story of a recent study heralding that casual marijuana use can cause brain abnormalities, which is very misleading. The researchers looked at brain differences between casual marijuana users and non-users at one point in time and saw a correlation. That is, the users' brains were different from non-users'. This kind of research says nothing about what caused the differences. To do that, you need to look for brain changes following drug use over time, and even then it may be that these abnormalities incline individuals to smoke, or that someone inclined to smoke is also inclined to do other things that cause changes. It's up to researchers to be very clear about what they did or did not prove. In this case, deliberately or not, the limits of their conclusions were lost in a cloud of smoke. Humans have used mind-altering substances throughout history. Nothing is going to stop it. It's up to individuals to decide for themselves what they will do and live with the consequences, don't you think? Another study is on the headlines today: smoking marijuana could increase the risk of heart problems and death, doctors say. Why all these doctors, which probably a good part of them smokes weed, don’t invest their time in something more useful like finding all the benefits that medical marijuana can offer??
