It’s like, breaking down stereotypes, man …
Stupid, slow, sloppy — the three S’s of stonerisms are quickly becoming a thing of the past.
Using any one of those tired clichés is out, and it's because of growing research on known benefits of the plant. It’s like, breaking down stereotypes, man …
Adding to the fray is another study published a few weeks ago titled Splendor in the Grass? A Pilot Study Assessing the Impact of Medical Marijuana on Executive Function. It claims that marijuana users see a boost in cognitive performance — or how we intake and apply knowledge — while using weed to treat ailments.
The study grabbed a couple-dozen “naïve marijuana users” — or people who hadn’t yet used any form of marijuana for medicinal purposes under Massachusetts’ (where the study was performed) MMJ laws. They then were observed over the course of 12 months, and were tested in that time for advancements in the Stroop Color Word Test and the Trail Making Test.
"After three months of medical marijuana treatment, patients actually performed better, in terms of their ability to perform certain cognitive tasks, specifically those mediated by the frontal cortex," says Staci Gruber, lead researcher and director of the Marijuana Investigations for Neuroscientific Discovery (MIND) program at McLean Hospital, to Motherboard.
She and her team add that the results are likely because of the patients’ deafening of symptoms related to whatever it is they were treating with marijuana in the first place. If someone were treating themselves for pain, as an example, the absence of it would inhibit the boost in cognitive function because basic overall health does that sort of thing. It isn’t yet confirmed that the weed itself is what’s beneficial, or if it just helps in the overall process.
Basically, it isn’t imperative in helping, but it’s not hurting, either.
"One of the big things to take home from this study is that individuals who are medical marijuana patients aren't necessarily going to have serious cognitive decrements associated with cannabis use," Gruber adds.
One more thing the study found is that participants reported a 42 percent decrease in opioid use as well. Which is enough of a benefit to celebrate the findings considering the debilitating abuse epidemic the country currently finds itself in.
So while 9 states are currently voting to legalize weed in some form or another, compounding research continues to knock down barriers as to why it was considered illegal in the first place.
This whole prohibition thing is going to look ridiculous in a few decades. Though as more and more research continues to shed light on the once illicit narcotic, some lifelong stoners are already saying ‘I told you so.’
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