New Study Says That Smoking Weed Ages Your Brain Three Years

Source –  Smoking cannabis ages the brain by an average of nearly three years, according to new research.

Marijuana was found to ramp up brain aging by 2.8 years making it worse for your mind than bipolar disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Lead study author Dr. Daniel Amen, founder of Amen Clinics, said: “The cannabis abuse finding was especially important, as our culture is starting to see marijuana as an innocuous substance. This study should give us pause about it.”

The researchers analyzed 62,454 brains scans from 31,227 people.

Dr. George Perry, from the University of Texas, San Antonio, commented on the research saying: “This is one of the first population-based imaging studies, and these large studies are essential to answer how to maintain brain structure and function during aging.”

The findings were published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

There’s only one person I thought of when I read this study….

Buddha Ben. I love Ben as much as anyone, but if the study is correct, his brain is ten-thousand years old. He’s the unofficial spokesperson for Backwoods and has consumed more medical marijuana since I started typing this blog than I have in my entire life…and I use the term medical lightly. I could be wrong, he could use it for back pain and dealing with the stress of being on the road 300 days a year, but more likely than not he just loves to get high. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Will this study stop the Buddha Bens of the world from smoking weed? Probably not, but it’s interesting nonetheless. Read the whole thing here if you care.

You have to wonder how much a difference three years makes. Like is that a noticeable amount of brain aging? The aging isn’t measured in experience either, it’s measured in blood flow and you can’t even feel that so who cares? Maybe you’ll notice when you’re in your seventies but by that point you’re already on the back nine of life. I don’t know, I’m not a doctor. I’m also not a smoker so I don’t really have a dog in this race. I am glad this study came out though because pot smokers have been getting a ton of good press lately. Stoners needed to be knocked down a peg. Pushed back out of the mainstream and onto the fringes of society where they belong. Dirty hippies. *Picks up pen, takes a rip. Although based on the rate at which everyone is legalizing weed, that seems unlikely to happen.