Pubdate: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 Source: Times of India, The (India) Copyright: Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. 2004 Contact: http://www.timesofindia.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/453 Author: Priya Yadav, Times News Network Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?420 (Cannabis - Popular) INDO-US VENTURE TO CRACK MARIJUANA MYSTERY PGI Gets Funds From US Agency For Research CHANDIGARH: A one-way ticket to a life of madness and despair or an ecstatic trip to nirvana? Whichever way you look at it, marijuana is mystifying. And Almighty America is not comfortable with mysteries. In quest of final answers, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) of the US has now joined hands with the PGI's department of neurology and psychology. They will initiate extensive research to find out how marijuana impacts on the brain. It's not as though the US of A has suddenly woken up to the marijuana madness: it is still the most-used illegal drug in America. More than 71 million Americans have tried the joint or pot, as it's partakers fondly call it, according to national surveys, and about 11 million smoke it regularly. The NIH, the steward of medical and behavioural research for the nation, an agency under the US department of health and human services, is pumping $80,000 into the research project. Dr S Prabhakar, head of the PGI's department of neurology, told The Times of India: "Nobody knows the intricacies of how the brain works in the first place. And we know even less about how it works with a shot of marijuana inside it. Our research will focus on what effect marijuana has on functioning of the brain, what are the structural changes it produces, if at all there are changes." PGI is the second centre in the country to get funds from the prestigious American agency; the NIMHANS of Bangalore has been given money for Aids research. "Although the number of joint smokers in the US is high but multi-drug use by smokers makes it difficult to study the effects of marijuana in isolation. Here we have ample number of cases who do not use any form of intoxication except joint,"says Dr Prabhakar. "Research will include detailed memory testing of the sample, detailed psychological functioning, magnetic resonance imaging and sophisticated bio-medical tests," says Dr Prabhakar. Marijuana triggers a mild euphoria and increased sensitivity to bodily sensations, along with a range of other perceptual distortions that are usually experienced as pleasant. It is not a single drug molecule, like alcohol or cocaine, but a mix of more than 420 different chemical components. They're so different; in fact 61 of them are unique to marijuana. What doctors know now is that components of marijuana act like a feel-good chemical bomb that explodes on contact. But pot changes more than just the way people feel. It tilts the balance of chemicals in the brain that regulate mood, energy, appetite and attention, affects memory and learning processes and can cause forgetfulness and reduced concentration. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake