A little facts regarding Marijuana, which I was an avid smoker every day throughout highschool.
Marijuana downregulates your GABA and Acetylcholine levels, dramatically. The Cannabinoid receptors are closely connected(in terms of proxmity) to both GABA and Acetylcholine receptors.
What this means is, yes infact you will recieve a significant boost in some aspect, WHILE you are high. But it stays in your system, clogging up your receptors for up to 2 days - 2-3 weeks depending on how much you smoke.
And to top it off, while it is in your system, clogging up your receptors, being inactive, doing nothing, except blocking your receptors, it also causes production of GABA and Acetylcholine to drop significantly.
This does not mean learning is not possible after smoking or while smoking. What this means is that it infact DOES make you dumber, and the effects are more pronounced over the long-term. It down regulates your entire GABA and Acetylcholine system, and will continue to do so the longer it is in your system.
You can look it up, it's scientific fact.
I smoked every day in high school, me and my buddies would go through a minimum of 4-5 oz a week, between 3-5 people. I can attest that the significant laughy, and overall high feelings are a direct result of GABA and ACH stimulation. Over the first 3 years I started smoking, these effects were mostly gone by the end of the 3rd months or so. This is a result of the significant downregulation and decrease in efficiency of your GABA and ACH systems.
I could easily say, this is, your brain getting dumber, but that can be argued. It all depends on what your interpret of smart is... Somebody could have down regulated systems significantly and still succeed, but in the quite literal since, weed causes brain damage. That is, if you look at it over the long term.
One time smoking wont hurt you, unless you consider a slight down regulation in your systems to be damage.
Fun Fact: THC and other Cannabinoids literally act as goo in the brain. They are Fat soluble which is why they stay in the body/brain for so long.
I used to make Hash Oil back in high school, by using a butane extraction method. The result would be a very thick goo, that when touched to anything, would NOT come off except over a very long time, unless washed with an alcohol based-solution. Do this yourself, it's very cheap and easy, and you will be able to see first hand what the THC looks like. It's quite honestly the most gooey thing you'll ever touch or see.
Now, your brain can always up regulate.... but upregulation without the use of supplements would require intense mental training, or just take up to 2-3 months if simply waiting. And during these 2-3 months you could not smoke weed at all.
In short: If you smoke weed more than 1-2 times a month, then you are constantly down regulating your systems. This results in the brain becoming lazier over time and can require a lot of hard work to reverse. Most people don't notice it because it's so subtle and they aren't that aware of their brains.
I know, this is scary, I am not trying to scare you though. It's all fact. Merely look up the mechanism of THC, and relation of cannabinoid receptors to GABA and ACH receptors. Look up the effect of Marijuana on the down regulation of ACH and GABA. The fact is out there. Most people just aren't bright enough to draw the lines that reduced GABA and ACH = you getting dumber, or rather, your brain losing power and becoming less efficient. Smart behaviors are still certaintly possible, but just simply consider the effect of reduced GABA and ACH of learning and intellect. GABA is responsible for focusing and ACH is responsible for learning.
I'm not saying you can't smoke weed. Hell, I do occasionally, but not often. I still hang out with my friends everyday who smoke, they probably go through 2lbs a month. I always decline smoking with them, mainly because I dislike my mental progression being brought back a notch and me having to work back up to were I was. Even being around second hand smoke I can feel it having a significant effect on my system, for multiple days after..... After I became aware of the obvious effects, I got really tired of having to regain retrain and upregulate my faculties back to their normal levels for days after smoking....
When I smoked all throughout high school, my father always told me that his friends who did that were dumb as rocks now. I didn't believe him. I didn't head his word. But when I started experiencing first hand, and looked up marijuana related cannabinoid effects on GABA and ACH... I took a very different stance on smoking. Alcohol practically causes less damage, at least in different ways, if you don't drink that much... mainly because alcohol doesn't stay in your system for days-weeks interferring with your gaba and ach systems like CBN, THC, CBD, etc.
A word of the wise: I didn't even know what Downregulation and Upregulation were until I came to these forums. How is anyone else supposed to understand the true effects of marijuana when terms such as downregulation and upregulation are not well known by the average smoker....
Edited by OpenStrife, 20 July 2012 - 07:10 PM.
