And the debate continues: does smoking marijuana kill off brains cells? New research finds this may be true.
The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences conducted a study that found the use of marijuana at an early age could have long term effects on the brain, and could even possibly lower someone’s IQ. It was found that users, some beginning to smoke at the age of 14, had less grey matter in the orbitofrontal cortex. Grey matter is important, because it contains most of the neuron cell bodies for the brain. Damage to the orbitofrontal cortex can affect decision making and more severely, as well as changes in personality.
The brain is connected in thousands of ways, providing for an efficiency and functionality. The wiring is important for someone to learn and associate items with what they already know. Prolonged use of marijuana starts to cause deterioration of the wiring in the brain, especially in the decision making areas.
In the study, there were 48 users, all in which began smoking between the ages of 14 and 30. The user’s average age was 18 and some smoked up to three times a day. Another part of the test were 62 nonusers, all of similar ages and genders as the users. As the results came back, it was found that users had IQs that were an average of five points lower than nonusers, but this is not absolute proof that marijuana is at fault for these results.
The results of this study provided a bit of uproar amongst supporters of the plant. The director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project, Mason Tvert, bashed the results of the study. He pointed out that the study does little to prove what is being searched for: long term brain damage. There is still no conclusive evidence that marijuana causes any sort of mental health problem or other disabilities.
The argument between alcohol and marijuana still lies out in the open. Alcohol affects the body in a much more severe way and also has lasting health effects. Both substances slows the body’s reaction time. One is found guilty for many deaths, and one has not been. Alcohol is proven to cause brain damage, and it is still unsure whether marijuana does or not.  Therefore, many will continue the passionate discourse about which drug is more damaging.
A UW-La Crosse senior, who preferred to stay anonymous, describes her use of the substance. “[I use marijuana because] it feels nice. It’s relaxing and everything looks different. As far as the decision making goes, [I believe that] alcohol users still make worse choices.”