Marijuana News

New Study From Spain: Cannabis May Create False Memories, Source: http://i0.wp.com/www.thedailychronic.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/marijuana-Gypsummit.jpg?resize=795%2C470A new study out of Spain sought to explore the finer points of how cannabis affects memory. To do so, the study’s participants consisted of heavy cannabis users (who were asked to abstain from cannabis for 4 weeks) and non-cannabis users.

The participants were shown a series of words, then later shown a second set of words (comprised of mostly the same words but with some added and some taken away) and recorded their level of recall. The observed effect was that the cannabis users had a higher propensity of creating false memories — that is to say that they thought the new words from the second set were part of the original set. Thus, they reached the conclusion that heavy weed smokers are more likely to create a “false” memory.

Is the effect as pronounced as they suggest? It’s hard to say. The sample size was only 16 cannabis users, so it is rather challenging to make sweeping claims about an entire subset of people based off a fraction of a percent of them.

Researchers were also careful to point out that there was no real difference between cannabis users and non-users when it came to correctly identifying original words or how long it took them to make that recognition.

So, this study might have something useful to report, but I’m not seeing anything particularly damning or game-changing about their findings. One of the lead doctors for the study also said that, for medical cannabis users, the benefits outweigh the risk to memory.

I don’t know how this stacks up to the general experience of heavy users. I know that when I am actively stoned, I do sometimes forget what I’m talking about or why I walked from one room to the next, but it almost always comes back to me in a matter of seconds. That said, I really don’t notice much difference in my sober hours when it comes to memory.

Also, different people have different mental strengths. I know plenty of people who have never smoked marijuana but couldn’t remember five words to save their life. There are many learning styles, and traditional verbal memorization, though crammed down the throat of American school children for decades, is really only a small portion of the picture.

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By: Raylan Campbell. Permalink: permalink Shortlink: http://weedi.st/6AKRl