Pubdate: Thu, 15 Nov 2007
Source: NOW Magazine (CN ON)
Copyright: 2007 NOW Communications Inc.
Contact:  http://www.nowtoronto.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/282
Author: Elizabeth Bromstein
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?224 (Marijuana and Driving)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Marijuana - Canada)

TOKING YOUR WAY TO SUCCESS

Are Those Who Inhale Really Smarter Than Those Who Don't?

So last week a swiss study was published saying teens who use only 
cannabis appear to function better than those who also use tobacco, 
and are more socially driven and have no more psychosocial problems 
than those who abstain from both substances.

And all the potheads in the world said, "Booyah! See? Pass the 
cookies." What can we glean from this? That occasional tokers are 
smarter, more motivated, sportier and more sociable than non-tokers? Could be.

But don't go wild.

Sure, you might be just as smart when you spark up, but researchers 
seem to agree you're going be processing info more slowly than 
non-stoners. Bottom line? Don't toke and drive. Finally, will pot 
really make you nicer? Recent research from the Centre for Addictions 
Research of BC suggests, as we've all suspected for quite some time, 
that it sure won't make you nasty.

What the Experts Say

"When you give a joint to relatively heavy pot smokers with a history 
of smoking, you see limited effects on cognitive performance. Their 
cognitive performance slows down, but they are just as accurate. So 
if they're engaging in a task that requires quick reaction time, like 
driving an automobile, they might put themselves in danger. With 
light smokers, you can see a lot more disruptions in accuracy and 
reaction time. It's the same thing with alcohol. It's difficult for 
investigators to get funding to study these drugs."

CARL HART, associate professor, department of psychiatry and 
psychology, Columbia University, New York City

"The sample is representative of 16- to 20-year-olds in Switzerland. 
However, we can't assume causality. Our findings suggest there is a 
group of mainly occasional cannabis users who do relatively well, and 
much better than those who use both cannabis and cigarettes. And they 
seem to be more socially driven than abstainers. One possible 
explanation is that cannabis, at least in Switzerland, is becoming a 
way to socialize, the way alcohol or cigarettes were. We have a 
picture of these youth, not a movie, so we do not know what happens 
later: do they stop using cannabis? Do they escalate in their use? 
These questions remain to be answered."

JOAN-CARLES SURIS, research group on adolescent medicine, University 
of Lausanne

"If you feed your cannabinoid receptors, you will never get 
Alzheimer's. Nobody who smokes pot regularly in Canada has ever been 
found to have Alzheimer's. People generally get both long- and 
short-term memory preservation if they smoke lots of pot. If you 
don't feed the receptor, it withers away by your late 50s or early 
60s and cannot be restored. Also, cannabis does one really important 
thing: it arouses curiosity, which is an important part of 
intelligence. In our experience, people who don't smoke marijuana 
tend to have more myopic views and are more closed-minded. They're 
less tolerant and less open to new experiences. If you smoke 
marijuana, you tend to become more curious and broad-minded. And that 
contributes to intelligence."

MARC EMERY, publisher, Cannabis Culture Magazine, Vancouver

"The problem I see with the Swiss study is that we have no idea what 
the subjects were like beforehand and if their family relationships 
were good. I wouldn't be surprised if they were even better before 
they started smoking up. Those in the Swiss study were infrequent 
users. We found in adolescent heavy users -- I want to stress heavy 
users -- that marijuana affected IQ negatively. Not by a lot. If 
someone was on the margin of being mentally challenged, it might make 
a difference. IQ includes memory and visual processing speed, and 
these are adversely affected, in our work, among heavy users. Smoking 
could affect driving and aspects of school performance. These 
effects, however, disappeared after three months of non-use. No drug 
has only a positive impact. You'll hear people claim they smoke up 
regularly and are still doing well, but maybe they'd be doing even 
better if they didn't smoke. This is where the personal decision 
arises: feeling good versus possible negative consequences."

PETER FRIED, professor emeritus, department of psychology, Carleton 
University, Ottawa

"If you look in treatment populations, people who've had problems 
with marijuana abuse generally have higher violence rates than the 
general population. They also tend to have more aggressive 
personalities. But marijuana itself does not lead to violence. There 
is little evidence that the pharmacological effects of cannabis 
increase the likelihood of violence; in fact probably just the 
opposite. It's more likely to make people fearful than fearless."

SCOTT MACDONALD, assistant director, Centre for Addictions Research 
of BC, University of Victoria 
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