THC and your brain

[Evil Hippie]

I have a question...

What exactly does THC do to your brain to make you "high"? What causes the happiness and all the other symptoms?
Thanks.



I hate people who hate people...

[ChronicSmoker241]

thc combines with things in your brain called cannabanoid receptors. Most of the cannabanoid receptors are found in the area of your brain where the short term memory, long term memory and a few others are causing your senses to change.

[Evil Hippie]

Cool.
Does it do any damage to the brain?

[delta9]

No, gah. *RESEARCH*

It's not hard, really. Googling for THC brain effects (http://www.google.com/search?q=thc+brain+effects) yields such titles as:

Neuroscience for Kids - Marijuana (http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/mari.html)
The Medical Effects of Marijuana on the Brain (http://mitosyfraudes.8k.com/INGLES-2/Mari.html)
Smoking Marijuana : Marijuana Brain effects (http://www.geocities.com/healthmoon/smoking-marijuana/brain.htm)
Howstuffworks "How Marijuana Works" (http://science.howstuffworks.com/marijuana4.htm)

The first one is a government thing, seems most of what it says is alright, but I didn't read it all. I did follow some of its links and THEY had misinformation in a few spots. The second looks interesting, don't have time for it now, and stuff I already know... Third one has blatantly bad information, talking about stuff from studies that have been disproven or proven to have not been properly carried out. Fourth link doesn't go into too much detail but it seems alright (again, just skimmed it).

I'll help you out and point you in the right direction: Erowid (http://www.erowid.org), more specifically Erowid's Cannabis Vault (http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cannabis.shtml). You'll most definately want to read Erowid's Cannabis FAQ (http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cannabis_faq1.shtml) (note, I'm fairly sure they're concerned with the tone not the accuracy of the information, as it is pretty much written by an activist, and his information follows my research as well). Quoted from the FAQ:

The short answer: No.

The long answer: The reason why you ask this is because you probably heard or read somewhere that marijuana damages brain cells, or makes you stupid. These claims are untrue.

The first one -- marijuana kills brain cells -- is based on research done during the second Reefer Madness Movement. A study attempted to show that marijuana smoking damaged brain structures in monkeys. However, the study was poorly performed and it was severely criticized by a medical review board. Studies done afterwards failed to show any brain damage, in fact a very recent study on Rhesus monkeys used technology so sensitive that scientists could actually see the effect of learning on brain cells, and it found no damage.

But this was Reefer Madness II, and the prohibitionists were looking around for anything they could find to keep the marijuana legalization movement in check, so this study was widely used in anti-marijuana propaganda. It was recanted later.

(To this day, the radical anti-drug groups, like P.R.I.D.E. and Dr. Gabriel Nahas, still use it -- In fact, America's most popular drug education program, Drug Abuse Resistance Education, claims that marijuana ``can impair memory perception & judgement by destroying brain cells.'' When police and teachers read this and believe it, our job gets really tough, since it takes a long time to explain to children how Ms. Jones and Officer Bob were wrong.)

The truth is, no study has ever demonstrated cellular damage, stupidity, mental impairment, or insanity brought on specifically by marijuana use -- even heavy marijuana use. This is not to say that it cannot be abused, however.

[source: ``The Chronic Cerebral Effects of Cannabis Use I Methodological Issues and Neurological Findings '' by Renee C. Wert Ph.D., Michael L. Raulin Ph.D Vol. 21 Iss. 6 pp. 605-628. 1986. ``The Chronic Cerebral Effects of Cannabis Use II Psychological Findings and Conclusions '' by Renee C. Wert Ph.D., Michael L. Raulin Ph.D Vol. 21 Iss. 6 pp. 629-642. 1986. ``Neurotoxicity of Cannabis and THC A Review of Chronic Exposure Studies in Animals '' by Andrew C. Scallet in ``Pharmacology, Biochemistry & Behavior'' Vol. 40 pp. 671-676. 1991. ``Chronic Marijuana Smoke Exposure in the Rhesus Monkey IV Neurochemical Effects and Comparison to Acute and Chronic Exposure to Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in Rats'' by Syed F. Ali, Glenn D. Newport, Andrew C. Scallet, Merle G. Paule, John R. Bailey, William Slikker Jr in ``Pharmacology, Biochemistry & Behavior'' Vol. 40 pp. 677-682. 1991. ``Behavioral, Neurochemical, and Neurohistological Effects of Chronic Marijuana Smoke Exposure in the Nonhuman Primate'' by William Slikker Jr. et al. in ``Marijuana Cannabinoids Neurobiology and Neurophysiology'' Laura Murphy, Andrzej Bartke ed. pub. CRC Press Boca Raton, FL, 1992. (the following are the studies which were found to be flawed) ``Effects of Cannabis Sativa on Ultrastructure of the Synapse in Monkey Brain'' by J. W. Harper, R. G. Heath, W. A. Myers in ``Journal of Neuroscience Research'' Vol. 3 pp. 87-93. 1977. ``Chronic Marihuana Smoking Its Effects on Function and Structure of the Primate Brain '' by R. G. Heath, A. T. Fitzjarrell, R. E. Garey, W. A. Myers in ``Marihuana: Biological Effects Analysis, Metabolism, Cellular Responses, Reproduction and Brain '' Gabriel G. Nahas, W. D. M. Paton ed. pub. Pergamon Press Oxford, 1979. ``Cannabis Sativa Effects on Brain Function and Ultrastructure in Rhesus Monkeys '' by R. G. Heath, A. T. Fitzjarrell, C. J. Fontana, R. E. Garey in ``Biological Psychiatry'' Vol. 15 pp. 657-690. 1980. (D.A.R.E. says pot kills brain cells) DARE Officers training manual section T page 5. ]

Please, please, please research, lil buddy. I'd much more enjoy DISCUSSING these things with you than educating you about it. I never wanted to be a teacher, you know :p

[Evil Hippie]

Well ive done enough research to find out that there are a few different theorys on this subject, so I wanted to ask someone who actually smokes it if it has any effects on the brain. Id rather hear from someone who has had personal experience with it rather than a scientist who relies solely on experiments with monkeys and such. I trust the opinion of someone who has actually tried it over the opinion of someone who hasnt.
Thanks for educating me once more :) You're great man...Ill try to find the answers on my own more.

[delta9]

You're quite welcome... But it's always good to be self-sufficient ;).

Anywho, you have to be careful, of course, and realize some reports are going to be biased, one way or the other, so you've gotta take things with a grain of salt... That said, I like erowid (http://www.erowid.org) as a drug resource, because it's more objective than most, and when it is slanted, it's usually slanted in a way I agree with ;).

[Evil Hippie]

haha

Thanks again. :)