Benefits & Risks of Cannabis Use

In recent years, there have been changes in legislation regarding medicinal and recreational cannabis use. Along with these changes in regulation, there have also been further research studies in order to gain a deeper understanding of the effects of the drug. Cannabis use has been linked with both benefits and negative consequences.

On December 13, 2016, Loyola students had the opportunity to attend a neuroscience seminar by Dr. John G. Csernansky from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. In his lecture, Dr. Csernansky discussed the research conducted in his lab regarding cannabis-related memory deficits and morphological differences in the brain of healthy and schizophrenia subjects. Specifically, the study examined the hippocampal surfaces of participants in order to examine changes in the area of the brain associated with memory and learning in both healthy and schizophrenia participants in order to determine a significant difference amongst the groups.

Dr. Csernansky and his colleagues not only looked at neuroimaging data, but also conducted cognitive tests as part of their study to determine if they would see changes in memory and recall. The study found that there were significant morphological differences in the hippocampus in both cannabis use groups (healthy and schizophrenia participants). Another notable finding from their study was how cannabis-use disorder groups performed worse on episodic memory tests than control groups, suggesting that heavy cannabis use is associated with an overall decline in episodic memory.

Although the findings from Dr. Csernansky’s study found negative consequences of smoking marijuana, there have also been studies done suggesting benefits of medicinal cannabis use. In an article published on TIME, marijuana consumption was found to have benefits for physical conditions such as arthritis, cancer symptoms, along with a number of mental health disorders. Cannabis has been linked to helping individuals with mental health issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety. In accordance with the findings from Dr. Csernansky’s study, the article also explains how cannabis use may not be ideal for people with bipolar disorder, since the negative consequences outweigh the positive.

                While the findings from Dr. Csernansky’s study suggest that cannabis use may lead to memory deficits and changes in the hippocampal structures, it is important to note that the study looked at heavy cannabis users diagnosed with cannabis-use disorder. In other words, participants in this study were mainly daily cannabis users over the course of a long period of time with dependence for the drug. It would be interesting to see what changes, if any, would be observed in light to moderate cannabis users. In the case that cannabis be used medicinally to treat conditions such as arthritis, cancer symptoms, PTSD, depression or social anxiety, it would be important to determine the safe criteria of cannabis consumption in terms of frequency and dose requirements. Furthermore, in order to gain a better understanding of the benefits and risks of cannabis use, there needs to be more longitudinal studies looking at its effects over a period of 5-20 years. It would also be noteworthy to determine whether these changes in hippocampal structure and cognitive defects are permanent for one’s entire life or if neuroplasticity may allow for the brain to recover.

Sources:

1. Smith M.J., Cobia D.J., Reilly J.L., Gilman J., Roberts A.G., Alpert K.I., Wang L., Breiter H.C., Csernansky J.G. (2015). Cannabis-related episodic memory deficits and hippocampal morphological differences in healthy individuals and schizophrenia subjects. Hippocampus, 25(9), 1042–1051. http://doi.org/10.1002/hipo.22427
2. Sifferlin, Alexandra. "Marijuana Appears to Benefit Mental Health: Study." Time. Time, 16 Nov. 2016. Web. 12 Dec. 2016. <http://time.com/4573129/marijuana-cannabis-mental-health/>.

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