HEY, LIKE, NEWS ABOUT CANNABIS

Long-term Use Doesn't Hurt Mind, Study Says

You say you toked lots of numbers packed with Maui Wowie and you're, like,
wondering if your mind 30 years later is slippin', fear not, say the medical
dudes.

Long-term use of marijuana does not lead to a decline in mental function,
according to the findings of a new report.

In what may be the first large-scale published study investigating the link
between marijuana and cognition, researchers at Johns Hopkins University in
Baltimore tracked mental functioning of 1,318 adults ages 18 to 64.

Special tests called the Mini-Mental State Examination, or MMSE, were given
11 1/2 years ago and this year and results were compared.

Researchers said the test scores were about the same and concluded that
cognitive decline was not associated with marijuana use.

Cognitive decline is related to aging, said the researchers. Starting in
people younger than 30, this decline increases exponentially with each
decade.

However, a higher level of education could reduce the degree of cognitive
decline, they noted.

A 1996 study of 129 participants by two Massachusetts researchers, Dr.
Harrison Pope and Deborah Yurgelun-Todd, found that heavy marijuana use was
not associated with lower SAT and intelligence-test scores.

But when the researchers evaluated memory, verbal and sorting abilities
using more sensitive tests, they found heavy users scored lower than light
users.

So, snuff that doobie just to be safe.