Brain Damage
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February 7, 2014
English 1120
Brain Damage Caused By Heavy Marijuana Use
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There is always the argument that marijuana is not harmful like other drugs and that it is okay to use it. A study conducted by a team of researchers from Children’s Hospital of
Philadelphia in 2009 may prove those people wrong. The study showed that young teens who are heavy marijuana smokers during the adolescent stage of growth can actually harm and disrupt the growth of the brain. ScienceDaily released an article about the study and while the article does a great job of explaining the study, it also makes the reader realizes that the study has some flaws. The young adult, or teen, is part of the adolescent stage. During this stage the brain …show more content…
undergoes a crucial period for development and maturation. If the brain does not finish growing in the adolescent stage it can lead to a loss or malfunction of that person’s many skills.
The study the researchers did to prove this was to take 14 subjects from a drug treatment center that all had history of regular marijuana use in adolescence (ages 13-19). They also take
14 healthy subjects that are the same age as the marijuana users.
The research team used magnetic resonance imaging scan called DTI, diffusion tensor imaging. This machine scans and measures the water movement throughout the brain. Concluding the study from the DTI the one of the researchers, Manzar Asharti, said that, “The abnormal patterns of water diffusion that we found among the young men with histories of marijuana use suggest damage or an arrest in
Baker 2
development of the myelin sheath that surrounds brain cells.” (Asharti) When Asharti refers to there being an insufficient amount of myelin, he is referring to the white matter in the brain.
Myelin is what gives that matter its color. When the development of myelin is abnormal, which in this cause is caused by smoking marijuana, it could possibly slow down the pace at which the brain transfers information.
As you read further in the article, they say that the findings are “preliminary”. Five out of the 14 drug using subjects also had a history of alcohol abuse and that could have effected the results. They also said that the brain abnormalities could have been subjects of drug dependence, rather than the subjects using drugs to have caused the …show more content…
abnormalities.
Since these problems come out after the study was conducted, it makes the reader
wonder.
They state that some of the participates in the study are also users of alcohol during the same time of heavy uses of marijuana. This effects the credibility of the article and study. The complications of the test subjects to this study affect how people view this drug. If the results had no flaw, it could change the way people view marijuana. But, just like any other drug, it affects every one different. Which makes it hard to prove as being harmful. The drug using test group all had the similar results, but they weren’t identical. The results can be argued and that is not good for the credibility of the researchers. Ashanti makes a later statement that reads: “Further research should be done to investigate the relation between repeated marijuana use and white matter development. However, our work reinforces the idea that the adolescent brain may be especially vulnerable to risky behaviors such as substance abuse, because of crucial neural development that occurs during those years.” Even though there are flaws, the study has proven
Baker 3
that marijuana and other harmful substances such as alcohol do slow down the development of the brain.
The trustworthy of this study is not effected in my opinion. When you evaluate
who conducted the study and where it was taken place, I feel that the reader does not a have problem with trusting the article. Even though the study has complications in who they chose as their participates, the results of damaged white matter in the brain are still there. The fact that they had five participants who were also involved with alcohol and heavy marijuana use could help the reader realizes that alcohol effects the adolescent stage of brain growth just as much as marijuana. With this information, the reader should feel more comfortable with trusting the study and article.
Many people that read this article that are “pro-marijuana”, will probably not stop using the drug and they will probably not be affected by the results from the study. But this article could make young adult users of marijuana realize the effects are real and even though some users were involved with other substances still effected the brain. More studies like this could help people acknowledge that marijuana may not kill you like other hard drugs, but that there are long term side effects.
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Baker 4
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Works Cited
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “Heavy Marijuana Use May Damage Developing Brain in Teens,
Young Adults.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 3 February 2009.
February 7, 2014
English 1120
Brain Damage Caused By Heavy Marijuana Use
"
There is always the argument that marijuana is not harmful like other drugs and that it is okay to use it. A study conducted by a team of researchers from Children’s Hospital of
Philadelphia in 2009 may prove those people wrong. The study showed that young teens who are heavy marijuana smokers during the adolescent stage of growth can actually harm and disrupt the growth of the brain. ScienceDaily released an article about the study and while the article does a great job of explaining the study, it also makes the reader realizes that the study has some flaws. The young adult, or teen, is part of the adolescent stage. During this stage the brain …show more content…
undergoes a crucial period for development and maturation. If the brain does not finish growing in the adolescent stage it can lead to a loss or malfunction of that person’s many skills.
The study the researchers did to prove this was to take 14 subjects from a drug treatment center that all had history of regular marijuana use in adolescence (ages 13-19). They also take
14 healthy subjects that are the same age as the marijuana users.
The research team used magnetic resonance imaging scan called DTI, diffusion tensor imaging. This machine scans and measures the water movement throughout the brain. Concluding the study from the DTI the one of the researchers, Manzar Asharti, said that, “The abnormal patterns of water diffusion that we found among the young men with histories of marijuana use suggest damage or an arrest in
Baker 2
development of the myelin sheath that surrounds brain cells.” (Asharti) When Asharti refers to there being an insufficient amount of myelin, he is referring to the white matter in the brain.
Myelin is what gives that matter its color. When the development of myelin is abnormal, which in this cause is caused by smoking marijuana, it could possibly slow down the pace at which the brain transfers information.
As you read further in the article, they say that the findings are “preliminary”. Five out of the 14 drug using subjects also had a history of alcohol abuse and that could have effected the results. They also said that the brain abnormalities could have been subjects of drug dependence, rather than the subjects using drugs to have caused the …show more content…
abnormalities.
Since these problems come out after the study was conducted, it makes the reader
wonder.
They state that some of the participates in the study are also users of alcohol during the same time of heavy uses of marijuana. This effects the credibility of the article and study. The complications of the test subjects to this study affect how people view this drug. If the results had no flaw, it could change the way people view marijuana. But, just like any other drug, it affects every one different. Which makes it hard to prove as being harmful. The drug using test group all had the similar results, but they weren’t identical. The results can be argued and that is not good for the credibility of the researchers. Ashanti makes a later statement that reads: “Further research should be done to investigate the relation between repeated marijuana use and white matter development. However, our work reinforces the idea that the adolescent brain may be especially vulnerable to risky behaviors such as substance abuse, because of crucial neural development that occurs during those years.” Even though there are flaws, the study has proven
Baker 3
that marijuana and other harmful substances such as alcohol do slow down the development of the brain.
The trustworthy of this study is not effected in my opinion. When you evaluate
who conducted the study and where it was taken place, I feel that the reader does not a have problem with trusting the article. Even though the study has complications in who they chose as their participates, the results of damaged white matter in the brain are still there. The fact that they had five participants who were also involved with alcohol and heavy marijuana use could help the reader realizes that alcohol effects the adolescent stage of brain growth just as much as marijuana. With this information, the reader should feel more comfortable with trusting the study and article.
Many people that read this article that are “pro-marijuana”, will probably not stop using the drug and they will probably not be affected by the results from the study. But this article could make young adult users of marijuana realize the effects are real and even though some users were involved with other substances still effected the brain. More studies like this could help people acknowledge that marijuana may not kill you like other hard drugs, but that there are long term side effects.
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
Baker 4
"
Works Cited
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “Heavy Marijuana Use May Damage Developing Brain in Teens,
Young Adults.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 3 February 2009.