cannabisnews.com: Marijuana's Effects: More Than Munchies Marijuana's Effects: More Than Munchies Posted by FoM on January 29, 2002 at 20:37:45 PT By Linda Carroll Source: New York Times Dawn was 12 when she started smoking marijuana with her friends. It was just something the cool kids did to relax and forget their problems, she says.But, after a while, the cigar-shaped "blunts" she smoked also seemed to make learning difficult. "I would just forget school stuff," said Dawn, now 17. "I'd learn something one day and the next day I'd have no idea what the teacher was talking about." At first Dawn, a Long Islander, limited her marijuana smoking to the weekends, but soon it became an everyday habit that ultimately landed her in a residential treatment program run by Phoenix House. The debate over whether marijuana is harmful and habit-forming, as Dawn found, or a fairly benign intoxicant, is an old one.And until recently little research had been done to settle the controversy. For several decades, research on marijuana lagged that for other illicit substances as scientists focused on the drugs like cocaine and heroin with more obvious addictive qualities and more drastic and dire effects on users.But in the past decade, and in particular over the last year or so, interest in cannabis has surged, driven in part by the debate over medical marijuana use for pain relief, nausea and loss of appetite by people with AIDS, cancer and other debilitating diseases. In addition, experts are intrigued by the discovery of molecules that naturally occur in the body, known as endogenous cannabinoids, or endocannabinoids, which are remarkably similar to the active ingredient in marijuana.Researchers have discovered that receptors for the endocannabinoids are sprinkled liberally throughout the body and the brain, suggesting that they play important roles in regulating a variety of processes.Recent research into the ways that cannabinoids regulate appetite, pain and memory may not only shed light on the abundance of sensations experienced by marijuana users — the mellow, the munchies and the fuzzy memory — but may help scientists develop new, more directed medications to help control appetite, ease pain and improve memory.Scientists have also learned that the drug, which an estimated 70 million Americans have at least tried, may be highly addictive to a small percentage of those who use it.Marijuana smokers report a diverse collection of sensations, and researchers now suspect that is because the drug's main active ingredient — delta-9-trans-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC — is so similar in shape to the endocannabinoids, which are involved in many body and brain functions. Dr. Rachel Wilson, a researcher at Caltech, discovered when she was at the University of California at San Francisco that endocannabinoids played an important role in the hippocampus, a part of the brain involved in learning and memory, according to a report published this spring in Nature.No one has figured out exactly how endocannabinoids are used in the hippocampus, but based on the abundance of cannabinoid receptors in this part of the brain and on the experiences of marijuana users, Dr. Wilson suspects that these molecules help lay down new memories by strengthening the connections between nerve cells.But when the brain is flooded with cannabinoids through marijuana use, forgetfulness results, Dr. Wilson said. It is probably a case of too much of a good thing, she added. When cannabinoids are abundant, every experience becomes strongly linked in our minds, she believes. But when everything is marked for memory, the system is overwhelmed and nothing is remembered.Dr. Wilson and others also reported last year on another important role played by cannabinoids. They appear to tone down the production of certain neurotransmitters, acting like the brakes of a car when the system is racing too fast.Another study published this last year in Nature may explain why marijuana users get a case of the munchies. An international group of researchers found that mice that were genetically engineered to be deficient in cannabinoid receptors ate 40 percent less than normal mice. And in a separate experiment, the researchers showed that an interplay existed between the cannabinoids and leptin, a hormone that produces satiety.In the study, obese rats that were genetically modified to have low levels of leptin produced higher amounts of endocannabinoids. When the rats were given leptin, the endocannabinoid levels dropped.Yet another study on cannabinoids published last year may explain why marijuana makes people feel good. According to the study published in Science, cannabinoids, through a complex chain of events, rev up the dopamine system. Like other addictive substances, marijuana appears to hijack brain circuitry that evolved to help people find their way back to a food source or sexual partner. Normally the neurotransmitters and receptors "are doing a long, slow dance," Dr. Wilson said. "Drugs of abuse crash the party and bring the booze."Perhaps the most contentious issue has been the question of whether marijuana could be addictive. For the many Americans whose experience with marijuana was pleasant and brief, it may be hard to believe that the drug can be strongly addictive.But scientists focusing on cannabis have come up with a complicated picture. While a majority of people seem to be able to quit, there appears to be a small segment of the population — some 10 to 14 percent — that can become strongly dependent on the drug. And some addiction experts fear that this possibility will have serious consequences for the young, noting that addiction among teenagers is on the rise in certain cities (New York and San Francisco among them). Marijuana use in teenagers like Dawn can block social development and derail career plans, said Dr. Alan I. Leshner, former director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.People often fail to notice that a friend or neighbor has a marijuana problem because the consequences of cannabis use are less striking than those associated with other drugs, said Dr. Alan J. Budney, associate professor at the University of Vermont and director of its Treatment Research Center."You don't see the severe acute consequences you get with alcohol or cocaine," Dr. Budney said. "People don't embarrass themselves. They don't wreck the car. They don't spend all their money on a binge. "That doesn't mean it's not addictive. It can be insidious. It gets into your lifestyle and then you can't get it out."For years, even addiction experts have argued over the effect of cannabis. "There is still some debate regarding the degree, or extent, or magnitude of dependence and what the real consequences of that dependence might be," said Dr. Billy R. Martin, a professor and chairman of pharmacology at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.One sticking point was the absence of an animal model. But slightly over a year ago scientists at the National Institute on Drug Abuse showed that monkeys give themselves THC in amounts comparable to that inhaled by people who smoke marijuana, according to a study published in Nature Neuroscience. Such self-administration of drugs by animals has been shown to be a hallmark of addictive substances.And more recently, reports have described a withdrawal syndrome that can last several weeks, another sign of addiction.In a study that followed heavy marijuana users, Dr. Budney found that when people quit using the drug, they experienced a host of unpleasant symptoms, including craving, decreased appetite, sleep difficulty, weight loss, aggression, anger, irritability, restlessness and strange dreams. Often these symptoms drove people back to using the drug, said Dr. Budney, who noted that the marijuana withdrawal syndrome was very similar to what cigarette smokers experienced when they quit. Still, compared with alcohol, the physical side of marijuana withdrawal is mild, experts say.Nevertheless, for those with a predisposition to be hooked by cannabis, the pull of the drug is intense.For Mark, a restaurant owner from Vermont, the craving for cannabis was too strong to ignore. Mark, 40, started smoking it when he was 13 and was smoking daily by the time he hit college. "When I woke up I genuinely didn't feel well until I smoked," he said.Although he tried many times to quit over the years, he did not succeed until he attended a treatment program.Still, not everyone is convinced that marijuana is a threat."Everything is relative," said Dr. Donald Jasinksi, a professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins medical school and director of the Center for Chemical Dependence at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. "Does it destroy as many lives as alcohol? No. Does it kill as many people as cigarettes? No. Does it have as many deaths associated with it as aspirin overdose? No."Mark, however, wistfully wonders what his life might have been like without marijuana. "I'm the only one in my family who wasn't an Ivy Leaguer," he said. "I went to a crummy college. I should have been right up there with the rest of them."Source: New York Times (NY)Author: Linda CarrollPublished: January 29, 2002Copyright: 2002 The New York Times Company Contact: letters nytimes.com Website: http://www.nytimes.com/ Forum: http://forums.nytimes.com/comment/ Related Articles:Looking for Ways To Keep Pot Smokers Drug Free http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11212.shtml Straight Dope on the Munchies http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9338.shtmlMarijuana-Like Substance in Brain Trigger Appetite http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9337.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #19 posted by Charlene on February 01, 2002 at 19:44:09 PT: what do you think? what do all of you think? do you think its just a bunch of bull or what? [ Post Comment ] Comment #18 posted by Charlene on February 01, 2002 at 19:42:44 PT: get real! hey i don't believe you all know me but i'm charlene hoffay and i think that yes marijuana can be addictive but it doesn't really make you forget things, i mean not unless you're really wasted but when i every i smoke the stuff it doesn't keep me from learning it just makes me think straighter, i just focus on one thing that someone is talking to me about and i stick to it. but i don't really think that dawn girl is real either, that person is just trying to scare the crap out of anyone that smokes the stuff so they won't be able to smoke it anymore [ Post Comment ] Comment #16 posted by E_Johnson on January 30, 2002 at 17:18:45 PT I wonder if she manufactures quotes These quotes are so perfect -- I've been a journalist and I suspect her of making them up.I don't think Mark really exists, and I wonder wherther Dawn exists too.She printed Mark's allegations without doing anything to back them up. He's 40 years old -- where did she get the college admissions data necessary to prove his claims? That was over 20 years ago that he was applying to colleges. [ Post Comment ] Comment #15 posted by E_Johnson on January 30, 2002 at 16:08:00 PT Playing the blame game Mark, however, wistfully wonders what his life might have been like without marijuana. "I'm the only one in my family who wasn't an Ivy Leaguer," he said. "I went to a crummy college. I should have been right up there with the rest of them."Mark, I don't know what your problem is, honestly, but when I was using marijuana every day, I maintained a 4.5 grade average with a solid engineering, math and physics curriculum, and I did that for five years, and I got into one of the very top graduate schools in the country for physics.And while smoking marijuana eevery day, I earned a Ph.D. in physics.So Mark, maybe you have the problem that you just aren't willing to work?Maybe marijuana is something easy for you to blame?And maybe we just aren't all cut out to be Ivy Leaguers? Everyone who fails to make it into an Ivy league college could find some kind of excuse. But some of them are mature enough not to go there.I work hard, even though I am smart I have never expected anything to happen without work. People imagine that you can succeed just by being smart, but really you can't. Especially not if you aim for a top school. [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by ohigho on January 30, 2002 at 13:27:26 PT: hey hey! "That doesn't mean it's not addictive. It can be insidious. It gets into your lifestyle and then you can't get it out."Hmmm...that's the way I like it! http://overgrow.com [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by Nuevo Mexican on January 30, 2002 at 10:12:59 PT Scroll down and read Howard Zinn... To pick up on where Dan B left off about the 'Lets Roll' mentality, (Thanks Neil Young, you just lost 90 percent of you fan base with your jingoistic tune, which sucks by the way, I can hear W in the background snorting lines in the studio). This is the response to the question: why are you against the war in Afghanistan? If you still beleive what our government says about anything, then you are with Jen! Howard Zinns' comments are enlightening. Comments please...http://www.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=126457&group=webcast [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by Dan B on January 30, 2002 at 07:41:13 PT My Bad--You're Right, Dave It was Todd Beamer who said "Let's roll" to his wife shortly before the airliner crashed. Oops!I misunderstood a pundit who was referring to a "hero" when he mentioned the origin of "Let's roll." But allow me to say this: is anyone else here aware that the supposed cell phone calls made from the airliners never showed up on the callers' telephone bills? What's up with that? And why was Todd Beamer's wife so composed mere hours after her husband's plane crashed into the ground? There she was, making the talk show rounds as though it were perfectly normal, and she seemed glad to have the spotlight. If my wife were killed in such a manner, even if she became a national hero in the process, I don't think I could remain so composed when people mentioned how she died. Maybe she is just amazingly strong. Or maybe she had a while to get used to the idea before it happened.Think about this: there are reports that several of the supposed hijackers had their identities stolen, and there have been reports of seven of the nineteen actually being found alive after the attacks. If these reports are true, then who was really hijacking those planes? Kind of gives the president's invocation of "Let's roll" a horrific twist, doesn't it.I don't know. Call me callous, but it sure does seem weird.Dan B [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by goneposthole on January 30, 2002 at 07:33:41 PT site Gulf War syndrome is constant denial of what took place in Iraq during the Gulf War and what has come to light since then. We in the United States are lucky so far.Iraq has been pushed beyond the limit.No wonder we were attacked, no wonder some in the Muslim world feel the way they do.An unreported holocaust that makes some guilty. It is horrific. You judge for yourself. http://www.answering-christianity.com [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by Cannabis Crusader on January 30, 2002 at 07:27:07 PT Question? Does anyone know if cannabis prohibition has been challenged on discrimination grounds? Just like religion a person chooses whether to adopt or not to adopt cannabis use. Anyone got any thoughts on this? [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by goneposthole on January 30, 2002 at 06:12:41 PT FoM for something FoM has the greatest avocation on earth, in my opinion.I am niether conservative nor liberal, I am a human being first and foremost.I have a great love for marijuana and I do not to condemn anybody for the beliefs they hold. The Muslims believe that eventually hell will be empty. I like that idea, if there is such a thing as hell. Good for them by Allah.Just some thoughts from the freaking stratosphere.Let's Roll [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by Dave in Florida on January 30, 2002 at 04:45:30 PT "Let's Roll" another one Dan B said:Of course you probably know this, but that was the last thing reported to have been said by one of the American soldiers who was killed over in Afghanistan.It may have been, But One of the passengers on the 9-11 crash in PA said it to his wife on the cell phone before they took out the hijackers. It was quite a quote at the time.. [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by Elfman_420 on January 30, 2002 at 02:28:22 PT Let's Roll! Hah! When I heard that, I started rolling an imaginary joint, and then began smoking my imaginary joint. My non-smoking roomates who I was watching it with really got a kick out of it too. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by Dan B on January 30, 2002 at 00:02:35 PT: "Let's Roll" Of course you probably know this, but that was the last thing reported to have been said by one of the American soldiers who was killed over in Afghanistan.Still, I couldn't help picturing someone saying that to one's friends before downing some ecstacy.One other thing I noticed was the fact that Bush began by admitting he is in denial about the state of the union. Folks, when we are both at war and in an economic recession it is downright foolish to say that "the Union has never been stronger." Of course, he feels like he can say that because the recession is not affecting him personally (nor any of his friends, whom he publicly disowned in this speech), and the war is only affecting him by driving up his approval rating. And that is what he really means, of course: the people of America are united in support of him and his idiotic policies. Unfortunately, he's mostly correct.Dan B [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by FoM on January 29, 2002 at 22:48:22 PT goneposthole I'll never forget his words Let's Roll either! LOL! If only he meant it! That was priceless. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by goneposthole on January 29, 2002 at 22:18:45 PT State of the onion "Let's Roll."- President George BushI will never forget those words. God bless him. Even if he has oatmeal inside his skull, he can't be all bad. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Harvey Pendrake on January 29, 2002 at 21:23:22 PT kids & pot "Dawn was 12 when she started smoking marijuana...after a while, the cigar-shaped "blunts" she smoked also seemed to make learning difficult."1. 12 year-olds have easy access to marijuana and other drugs because of prohibition. The black market could care less if kids get their hands on drugs. A well regulated market would reduce the number of kids using drugs.2. No one is advocating the legalization of marijuana for 12 year-olds. In a free society, there is no reason adults should be arrested for buying, selling or using cannabis. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by CongressmanSuet on January 29, 2002 at 21:12:47 PT: She did give it the ... the old college try though, bravo to her! Figures, "facts", its all there....ah, to be young and gullible again... [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by aocp on January 29, 2002 at 20:55:22 PT There's too much BS to sort thru, but here... "You don't see the severe acute consequences you get with alcohol or cocaine," Dr. Budney said. "People don't embarrass themselves. They don't wreck the car. They don't spend all their money on a binge.Note how booze and coke are compared in any way BUT their legal status and all this entails. Amazing how this seems to slip through the cracks of "memory". Don't ever let them forget this as this is everything important to our argument. Drugs can be argued over til the cows come home, but nothing is as important as how the law views and treats them and their producers and users. Do not be deterred. Always remember that it is not up to us to defend our point of view and lifestyle, but rather for THEM to defend theirs. They are persecuting us, after all. Go for the balls, people. Cheers and good health. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment