Did I do long term damage after 4-5 years of regular marijuana use?

>>18344480
I'm not reading all that shit

Smoking before your early 20's absolutely alters the growth of the brain permanently.

You fucked up but it's probably not THAT bad and it's not like you can fix it now anyway.

>Am I being a worrisome faggot?
Yes. You're also just a plain ol' faggot who rambles. Your post could have been half as long as still accomplished the same amount of information.

/thread

>Imaging studies of marijuana’s impact on brain structure in humans have shown conflicting results. Some studies suggest regular marijuana use in adolescence is associated with altered connectivity and reduced volume of specific brain regions involved in a broad range of executive functions such as memory, learning, and impulse control compared to people who do not use. Other studies have not found significant structural differences between the brains of people who do and do not use the drug.

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>>18344480
i worry about this too, i smoked weed ALL throughout college, moderate to heavy use. that's 18 to 23/24 when i was regularly blazin.

have i made myself dumber? did i really do permanent damage? why does everyone talk about pot like it has no long term side effects?

Considering that the introduction of any exogenous psychoactive chemicals into your brain results in a change in neural development trajectory, you definitely have a different brain than you would have had if you hadn't smoked.
That said, there's no reason to worry about it and it's impossible to say what effect it had on your brain development or any other possible long term consequences outside of neurological issues.
You've stopped now, just continue with that and don't worry about things you can't change, especially when there's no way to know how you would have turned out up to this point otherwise. The key here is to never do it again. Your brain develops until your mid to late 20s, and now you'll have a healthier, uninhibited development assuming you take care of yourself.

>>18344480
>>18344745
No you're good. Fuck Dr. Drew and all the other shills lying on marijuana

>>18344480
Purely from the maxim "neurons that fire together wire together", yes, you've dulled your mind somewhat.

But it's ok you were never going to be another Hawking.

Thanks all, I guess I just shound not worry about what I can't change. That said, my motivation and passion to study and get good grades in college hasn't been hindered by pot thank fuck.

I have smoked 2 grams of amnesia daily for 2 years and smoked 9 years total. There is no permanent damage as far as I know. There obviously is a lot of damage, but staying clean and working on yourself can eventually clear you of the effects. You may feel stupid for a while, but you'll regain all your senses bit by bit.

I'm not reading all that shit.

There's no evidence that marijuana use causes any sort of cognitive or developmental issues. Long term use can have physical repercussions like smokers cough, but no, you can't smoke yourself stupid.

>>18345597
Don't listen to this guy. If you choose to ignore the effects they are not there. But you should choose to accept them.

>>18345611
What?

Nigga I don't care if he smokes or not, I'm just saying stop filling his head with broscience.

There is no evidence of long term neurological effects due to marijuana use period

It's only bad for you when you start to get bad anxiety trips or something that resembles psychosis or if it disrupt your daily duties. If you think that you need to take a break from it then do it so, otherwise just smoke em' if you got em'.

>>18345680
Had a few panic attack s when I picked up dabs which was one of the nails in the coffin. But I am completely done with pot as of now. Maybe later in life when I retire.

>>18345668
You say this like you know. I actually have a very serious cannabis addiction and I can tell you, just like my psychologist is telling me, there is damage after smoking on a daily basis for a long period of time.

>>18345706
If you can get a list from your psychiatrist of the actual compounds in marijuana that cause lifetime neurological damage, have them forward it to the CDC because that's something worth national accommodation.

Yes you doofus, I am saying it like I know, because no neurologist on earth asserts the claims you are. I trust them over you.

>>18345729
As I have said in my previous post there is no permanent damage I know of. There is no permanent neurological damage. Just a lot of temporary damage, which you'll still need to recover from.

>>18345747
>>18345729
And by temporary damage I also don't mean damage to your neurons. It just affects your mood, resillience, motivation, memory etc.

And if you're anything like me you're more prone to feeling anxiety and paranoia (for a few months)

>>18345747
And? I never said there wasn't. I said, twice, that there's no permanent damage. You called ME out, homeboy.

>>18345757
You tell OP that there's only danger if you start feeling anxiety or psychosis, or if it disrupts your every day activities. That's a very stupid thing to tell someone who might have a weed addiction, because typically people don't see it theirselves. And now you say I call you out because I say that's wrong? Just because there is no permanent neurological damage, doesn't mean it's not bad to smoke a lot of weed.

You're giving away a lot here man. I think you should see a professional and have a good talk.

>>18345775
I think you should talk to your psychologist about your reading comprehension, smartass, I didn't say any of that shit. My first and only post in the thread was the one you replied to.

Which, I'll remind you, talked exclusively about long term neurological damage, of which weed is not attributed to in even the most pessimistic of studies.

So no, I'm not telling him to stop smoking weed. I'm telling YOU to stop perpetrating erroneous information about it because of your personal affiliation.

>>18345808
Wellp. You're right. That's a repeating pattern for me. Sorry for the unnecessary drama. Like you, I was trying to help op.

>>18345808
1) you're claiming a lack of evidence is evidence of lack. Which is wrong.

2) cognitive issues <=/=> neurological issues. You can have perfectly healthy neurons carrying a junked up cognitive map.

>>18345822
No prob bro, we all do it

>>18345850
I know what you're trying to do, but please don't. For the sake of not confusing OP.

There is no evidence to suggest that weed has a negative, long term impact on cognitive OR neurological function. That isn't the same thing as saying "it doesn't", but marijuana has been in the spotlight for a few years, now. If there was going to be any suggestion of its long term detrimental effects, they would've been explored.

A retry on my earlier post:
Weed has many short term effects. They don't have to be negative and you can be bigger than those effects.

If you become addicted, like me, these effects start to incorporate into your personality. As long as you keep on smoking, this will keep going.

If you quit you start reversing the effects. If the effects are not reverting, you probably have psychological problems (like me)

>>18344480
If you start smoking before brain maturity (around 25 for men), your iq will on average be slightly lower than those who waited or abstained. But I have been smoking since I was 12, I am 20 now. I have a high iq, do well in school and don't worry about damage.
I think you are just getting anxiety over something unrelated. Weed doesn't really do much damage if any. And the stat I mentioned doesn't necessarily control for the fact that weed smokers prolly slack off and do other drugs and shit in their adolescence, which I feel affects brain development more than the weed itself.

>>18345913
hi. yes I have thought of a third variable being that weed smokers are more likely to experiment more, I have a friend who dabs out all day everyday and is hooked on xanax, who is convinced that he's fine. Like I said I over analyze and get paranoid, especially when I don't smoke, so that's why I freaked out a bit last night and made this thread.

Honestly though, I've never had any issue with a lack of motivation and learning in higher education. Ironically enough, within the next year I am applying to PhD psychology programs. It's strange but I've always loved college and getting good grades, even though I've smoked so much pot for the past five years. I know of some pre med and comp science majors who blaze a lot. Go figure.

>>18345899
Well, I think the illegality issue has been affecting the ability to gather data. Which I supose does mean any effect is marginal if it didn't leap out of what data was available but anyway.

Just iritated me seeing that other anon sense something was off but not being able to make a point.

>>18344855 was me btw, on the hazards of free associating under the herb.

But yeah, I'll pay "trace if anything" here. Not anything on the same chart as meth and its brainburning effects, for instance.

>>18344480
Ive done a lot of research on this personally (from science sources and medical journals. Not christian blogs against and hippy blogs for.)

One thing I know for a fact is the brains pretty good at repairing itself and even improving itself.

Relating to marijuana, if you were a frequent constant smoker, no doubt you did some damage.

Also no doubt if you stopped smoking your brain repaired it all pretty quickly.

I think, and dont quote me on this, its something like 3 weeks or some comfortingly short time like that.

>>18345952
Look to Canada for that.

Youre right but with the coming of legalising recreational use the government is pouring a lot of money into scientific study, sociology, scientific concensus gathering and they have a crack panel of doctors and experts doing the leg work.

Im not a marijuana smoker so im not bias towards good results or bad results on this issue. Having said that im very impressed with them.

The doctors think legal age should be 25 and the sociologists think 18. After debate theyve unanimously agreed 18 is better, because it wont taboo it for teens as hard and it will be easier to educate about known negative effects.

Theyre also however leaving legal age to the discretion of the provinces with 18 as minimum point so well see how it actually plays out.

>>18345952
I agree with the fact that its legal status interrupted any important medical findings, but I'd also argue that its recent spotlight, as well as the willingness to demonize the devil's lettuce by any means, would've made even the most meager of adverse suggestions a major concern.

Besides, it's 2017, our understanding of the body, while far from complete, is comprehensive enough to make a pretty reasonable assumption.

>>18345996
Well yes, we do have a passing understanding of the body.

The brain, however, remains the most complex object known to mankind. It's 2017 and yes we've only just begun making inroads into our understanding of it.

Gave up 15 years ago. Never touched weed once since.
Gave up after a number of white'is. Real bad ones, blowing chunks till my stomach hurt.
Since then even the smell of it makes me heave a little. Best remedy ever to make you quit.

>>18346032
I agree with you 100%, the brain is the most complex thing we know of.

But, the growth of our understanding of medicine these last few years is nothing short of exceptional. We might have only scratched the surface of the brain, but we are more than apt to judge the quality of our drugs.

Even though there is always the possibility that we'll find something, the fact that we haven't found anything to even suggest neurological damage as a repercussion of long term use is a pretty strong indicator that we won't.

>>18344480
You have permanently impaired your ability to cope with emotion.

>>18346161
I never had any to begin with (was suicidal since 5/6th grade) but I've been meditating since I quit weed to cope with depression/anxiety, and exercising to cope with anger/frustration.

>>18346280
Don't listen to this, OP. Your brain is in constant transformation. You are fine and will be even more fine if you eat the right things and "retrain" your brain properly.