Marijuana does not cause brain damage - Polidicks

It's [B]sort of a blog[/B] I suppose but it's got a lot more information than most news articles [IMG]http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--7RofvGa0--/tmph8cno4mbqinlejowi.png[/IMG] [QUOTE=source] In reading the news last week I came across multiple reports claiming that even casually smoking marijuana can change your brain. I usually don't pay much attention to such articles; I've never smoked a joint in my life. In fact, I've never even smoked a cigarette. So even though as a scientist I've been interested in cannabis from the molecular biology point of view, and as a citizen from a legal point of view, the issues have not been personal. However reading a USA Today article about the paper, I noticed that the principal investigator Hans Breiter was claiming to be a psychiatrist and mathematician. That is an unusual combination so I decided to take a closer look. I immediately found out the claim was a lie. In fact, the totality of math credentials of Hans Breiter consist of some logic/philosophy courses during a year abroad at St. Andrews while he was a pre-med student at Northwestern. Even being an undergraduate major in mathematics does not make one a mathematician, just as being an undergraduate major in biology does not makes one a doctor. Thus, with his outlandish claim, Hans Breiter had succeeded in personally offending me! So, I decided to take a look at his paper underlying the multiple news reports: [/QUOTE] Source: [url]http://io9.com/does-researching-casual-marijuana-use-cause-brain-abnor-1565519493[/url] It's mostly a rebuttal against that bad journal recently claiming marijuana causes brain abnormalities

That's what someone with brain damage would say.

dude who cares if it causes brain damage, what's the point of living if we can't have fun? A lot of things we eat and do every day causes brain damage. we're all gonna die eventually

Helo I am 2chans1 an I are an merry-iguana adick. My bran is damnage.

[QUOTE=1chains1;44618303]Helo I am 2chans1 an I are an merry-iguana adict. My bran is damnage.[/QUOTE] A prime example of a man addicted to sniffing over 10 marijuanas a day

It doesn't cause brain damage it kills inhibition in some people when abused.. Like all mind altering substances

back and forth we go

I'm brain damage and I marry wanna do the marijuana.

[QUOTE=Furioso;44618377]back and forth we go[/QUOTE] But SH would be dead if people weren't allowed [del]debate[/del] call each other names

[video=youtube;Sy8iUI_ayuo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sy8iUI_ayuo[/video] Marijuana did this to me

Nice source. Reliable. 100% trustworthy.

What're these kooks talking about? I've marijuana'd well over 100 injections, and my damage is very much brained. All joking aside, I guess it's good that they're calling bullshit on that journal. Love marijuana or hate it, spreading false information about it benefits nobody.

[QUOTE=WoodenSpoon;44618418][video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sy8iUI_ayuo[url] Marijuana did this to me[/QUOTE] marijuana made you forget how to use media tags?

[QUOTE=Baron von Hax;44618434]Nice source. Reliable. 100% trustworthy.[/QUOTE] Man youve been here a few months and youre already uptight as hell. Go smoke some weed man.

[QUOTE=Zukriuchen;44618452]marijuana made you forget how to use media tags?[/QUOTE] Haha yeah I suppose so, perhaps the study holds some truth!

So, I hear salt is good for you now.

Doesn't need to be trustworthy; simply look at his arguments and decide for yourself. ^ Zenreon is right. Trust me, I'm a doctor.

[QUOTE=DoctorSalt;44618499]Doesn't need to be trustworthy; simply look at his arguments and decide for yourself.[/QUOTE] A scientific report isn't the same thing as a blog

Salt upon wounds only. Nothing else.

Quite literally what this guy is saying is what most of the people here on facepunch were saying when the study initially broke: The tests they conducted utilized a poor sample size and is not definitively conclusive due to the very small sample size.

[QUOTE=FurrehFaux;44618507]A scientific report isn't the same thing as a blog[/QUOTE] this is as far as I can tell, an employed scientist talking about how a scientific report was questionable based on it's sources lack of scientific training and the methods in which it was questionable if those details happen to be in a blog, regardless of how valid they may be, you're saying it's fine to dismiss those critiques? just because they're in a blog?

I'll probably get dumbs for this but here goes. I'm all for the legalisation of marijuana and I don't see a problem with it in general but I don't get why the real health dangers of it are played down. It doesn't cause brain damage but inhaling byproducts of combustion will for sure damage your lungs. I always see posts and articles saying 'marijuana is safe' etc but it's simply not true. It's safer than tabaco and alcohol for sure but inhaling smoke no matter what it comes from is not going to be good for you.

[QUOTE=agentalexandre;44618529]I'll probably get dumbs for this but here goes. I'm all for the legalisation of marijuana and I don't see a problem with it in general but I don't get why the real health dangers of it are played down. It doesn't cause brain damage but inhaling byproducts of combustion will for sure damage your lungs. I always see posts and articles saying 'marijuana is safe' etc but it's simply not true. It's safer than tabaco and alcohol for sure but inhaling smoke no matter what it comes from is not going to be good for you.[/QUOTE] and as i'm sure you've read before, there's a dozen ways besides smoking plant matter to get high.

[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;44618528]this is as far as I can tell, an employed scientist talking about how a scientific report was questionable based on it's sources lack of scientific training and the methods in which it was questionable if those details happen to be in a blog, regardless of how valid they may be, you're saying it's fine to dismiss those critiques? just because they're in a blog?[/QUOTE] An opinion is still an opinion regardless of who says it. Critiques should be taken with a huge grain of salt, because they can be biased a lot of times.

[QUOTE=FurrehFaux;44618235]dude who cares if it causes brain damage, what's the point of living if we can't have fun? A lot of things we eat and do every day causes brain damage. we're all gonna die eventually[/QUOTE] I'd personally enjoy life more with a functioning brain than without one.

[QUOTE=Quark:;44618117]It's [B]sort of a blog[/B] I suppose but it's got a lot more information than most news articles [IMG]http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--7RofvGa0--/tmph8cno4mbqinlejowi.png[/IMG] Source: [URL]http://io9.com/does-researching-casual-marijuana-use-cause-brain-abnor-1565519493[/URL] It's mostly a rebuttal against that bad journal recently claiming marijuana causes brain abnormalities[/QUOTE] It's a rebuttal against a bad paper, not a journal. It's made by a person that claims the original writer does not have the credentials to make a statement like "marijuana causes brain damage". And he further claims that the paper itself is quite shit as well, which may be true. What he [B]isn't[/B] saying though is the fact that "Marijuana does not cause brain damage". He's bashing the paper itself. Whether marijuana causes permanent or physical damages to the brain is still an area that's being heavily researched about.

[QUOTE=Wolf532;44618553]I'd personally enjoy life more with a functioning brain than without one.[/QUOTE] I've seen a hell of a lot more functioning chronic pot smokers than chronic alcoholics.

[QUOTE=FurrehFaux;44618235]dude who cares if it causes brain damage, what's the point of living if we can't have fun? A lot of things we eat and do every day causes brain damage. we're all gonna die eventually[/QUOTE] People trying to prove marijuana is harmful might do well looking at alcohol and cigarettes which are both harmful. Whether marijuana damages your body or not is less important than if people know and accept the risks and continue use it.

[QUOTE=Wolf532;44618553]I'd personally enjoy life more with a functioning brain than without one.[/QUOTE] pot isn't going to stop your brain from functioning very few things would do that

[QUOTE=Wolf532;44618553]I'd personally enjoy life more with a functioning brain than without one.[/QUOTE] You're significantly up-playing the negative health risks the paper touts. As said before, marijuana isn't 100% harmless, but compared to alcohol or tobacco, it's significantly less harmful. From all the medical journals i've read on the upplayed aspects such as schizophrenia and major damage being caused from it, most of them are just swathed in medical vernacular and makes it sound significantly worse than it actually is. A few journals claim marijuana use will cause schizophrenia or mental instability. What they actually mean if you read them is: "a large amount of the test subjects experienced paranoia"