It turns out that smoking a lot of weed can potentially do permanent damage to your short-term memory, according to new research published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine. But you’ve got to smoke a lot of it.
Data from nearly 3,400 Americans over a 25-year period were examined, and at the end of the study period the subjects were tested on various cognitive abilities, including memory, focus, ability to make quick decisions, etc.
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The researchers found that the relationship between marijuana use and memory problems was linear. Essentially, the more people smoked, the worse their memory was. Quantifiably, it means that if you give people a list of 15 words to memorize and then ask them 25 minutes later to recall all of the words to the best of their ability, the people who don’t smoke pot or only do so occasionally would be able to remember nine. But those who smoked every single day over a period of five years would be able to recall 8.5. That’s not a huge difference. But if you multiply that by every five marijuana-filled years, the gap starts to get larger. After 15 years of smoking every day, these people would remember, on average, 2.5 fewer words than that those who didn’t smoke or only smoked occasionally.
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The scientists admit few people actually smoke that much pot. But many drug policy experts are concerned that legalizing marijuana will cause rates of heavy use to rise.
But the study isn’t perfect (what study is?). We don’t know if heavy pot use worsens your short-term memory, or if people who already operate at a lower level of cognitive function are more inclined to use marijuana heavily. It’s also worth noting that the other cognitive abilities researchers tested — focus and processing speed — did not seem to be significantly impacted by heavy marijuana use.
So just like eating fast food or drinking alcohol, as long as you’re doing it in moderation, you should be OK.
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Curated article from:
Washington Post
