Colorado Marijuana Laws – What You Need to Know

Colorado is well known for being one of the most liberal states as far as cannabis law is concerned. Medical Marijuana laws in Colorado allow

Colorado voters approved an amendment in 2012 legalizing marijuana possession as well as the sale and cultivation of recreational marijuana within the state. Colorado residents passed the amendment on the 6th of November 2012, marijuana sales to the public began on the 1st of January 2014.

This made Colorado the first state to legalize marijuana for recreational use, with Colorado marijuana laws already allowing medical marijuana since 2001.

Colorado Medical Marijuana Laws

Colorado laws have allowed patients to legally possess two ounces of usable marijuana and up to six marijuana plants providing they have a letter of recommendation from an approved physician.

If you are in need of a doctors letter of approval you can apply online today in minutes.

Patients must register with the Colorado Medical Marijuana Registry to receive a medical marijuana card that serves as a form of identification, allows them to use medical dispensaries and is proof that they are entitled to be carrying more than the recreational legal limit if stopped by the police. 

The Law Regarding Recreational Cannabis in Colorado

The Law regarding recreational cannabis in Colorado was introduced in 2001. Allowing adults over 21 to have and use marijuana for recreational purposes. They may buy only from licensed retail stores and buy or possess up to one ounce of marijuana at a time.

The law in Colorado also allows residents to cultivate six plants or fewer providing only 3 are flowering at any one time. They may also give away up to one ounce to another adult over the age of 21 but must not sell without a retail license.

In contrast to some other states you do not have to be a resident to legally purchase marijuana from a cannabis dispensary in Colorado, although you do need to be able to prove you are over the age of 21. This has led to Colorado becoming a destination for cannabis tourism and people can book themselves into Denver marijuana tours that show how cannabis is grown and concentrate and edibles are made. Plus there are a number of cannabis-friendly hotels that have policies on smoking or vaping to allow people to consume cannabis products discretely.

Colorado Laws and Penalties

Despite the possession of marijuana and the consumption of marijuana being legal for adults over the age of 21 in Colorado, and the state licensing establishments to sell marijuana there are still laws and penalties that you need to be aware of within the state.

Under Colorado marijuana laws adults may possess up to one ounce of marijuana. It is still illegal for anyone under the age of 21 to buy or possess retail marijuana. Initially, there were no separate rules for cannabis concentrate but due to higher THC levels The Marijuana Enforcement Division (MED) changed the rules imposing purchase limits of 8 grams of concentrate per transaction although you may still be in possession of up to 28 grams of marijuana concentrate.

Possession of over an ounce but less than 2 ounces is considered a petty offense and subject to a $100 fine. If you are caught with more than 2 ounces however you could face a much larger fine and even jail time with the maximum penalty for possession of over 12 ounces being 2 years in custody and a $100,000 fine with the offense considered a felony.

Selling, transfer or dispensing up to 4 ounces is considered a drug misdemeanor punishable by 6-18 months in jail and a fine of up to $5000 but again over that quantity is considered a felony punishable with much higher penalties.

Consuming marijuana in Colorado is also not as straightforward as you might imagine especially for non-residents. Public consumption is still prohibited other than in licensed consumption venues. Colorado residents may consume cannabis products in their own homes providing there are no building or landlord restrictions in place.

The Colorado Department of Revenues are responsible for regulating the marijuana industry in Colorado. They grant licenses for each marijuana business and for business employees. The department of revenue lays out the rules and regulations for marijuana products including marijuana taxes and labeling of bud, concentrates and edible products and collects sales taxes. Business owners and employees must complete a license application.

Possession on Federal Land

Although Colorado has legalized marijuana it is still illegal under federal law meaning you are not allowed to possess marijuana on federal land. So watch out if you are heading to the rocky mountain national park or any other federal land as possession is punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1000 fine for a first offense and a mandatory 15-day sentence that can be extended for a second offense.

Driving Under the Influence

Driving under the influence or while impaired by marijuana or any other drug is illegal as well as being unsafe, and you can be arrested for impaired driving and subjected to drug testing if police suspect that you have smoked marijuana.

There is a legal limit for blood THC content in Colorado of 5ng/ml. Anything over this and you can be charged. A first offense where no one is hurt will usually be charged as a drug misdemeanor punishable by a fine and or jail time. Repeat offenses or offenses where someone is injured or killed are likely to be charged as a felony.

Container law is also in effect in Colorado meaning you cannot travel with an open container of cannabis in the vehicle and that applies to passengers as well as drivers. And you must remember that it is illegal to take marijuana products out of the state, to Denver airport or onto federal land.

What States Have Legalized Marijuana?

Marijuana laws can be confusing in the United States, not least due to the fact that while marijuana remains illegal under federal law, for use or possession, due to the controlled substances act of 1970, many states have at least started marijuana decriminalization. Some states have allowed medical marijuana only, with several states limiting this to CBD products, while others have gone as far as legalizing recreational marijuana.

According to federal laws cannabis is classified as a schedule 1 substance meaning it is deemed to have no medical purposes and have a high potential for abuse. Marijuana possession carries a misdemeanors penalty of up to 12 months in prison and a minimum $1000 fine for a first offense and increases to a felony for a second offense. Although state cannabis law does not override federal law the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment does prohibit the justice department from interfering with cases where individuals have complied with state medical marijuana law.

If you are traveling from state to state it is worthwhile finding out what the laws are in the state that you are visiting. It is also worth remembering that even if cannabis has been legally obtained and is legal in two neighboring states carrying it across state lines remains illegal. This is due to the fact that cannabis remains illegal under federal law and the federal government maintains jurisdiction of interstate commerce or anything that crosses state lines.

Decriminalization

When a state decriminalizes marijuana they are not making marijuana legal however possession will be treated as a non-criminal offense generally resulting in a fine and no criminal record. Law enforcement also tends to be more relaxed in states where cannabis has been decriminalized.

A number of states have decriminalized cannabis including Nebraska, Virginia, North Carolina and Mississippi. With other states such as North Dakota, Minnesota, Ohio, New York and Rhode Island both decriminalizing and having a medical marijuana law, although possession limits vary between states.

Oregon became the first state to decriminalize cannabis in 1973 with many other states following suit in the next 5 years. There was then a lull in decriminalization after Nebraska decriminalized weed in 1978 and the next state to decriminalize was Nevada in 2001.

Medical Marijuana Legalization

In 1996 California became the first state to legalize the medical use of marijuana and many states have since followed suit including West Virginia and Oklahoma. Marijuana remains completely illegal in South Dakota with Kansas, Idaho, South Carolina and Alabama among others only allowing cannabidiol CBD oil for medicinal purposes.

Marijuana and cannabis oil have been found to have a number of therapeutic purposes including providing pain relief for those with terminal illnesses, treating epilepsy and other seizure disorders, helping with debilitating disorders such as muscular dystrophy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and providing relief for patients with cancer, glaucoma, anxiety, insomnia and many other conditions.

When a state legalizes medical marijuana by passing a medical marijuana bill they will generally have a medical marijuana program where medical marijuana patients can get a recommendation that approves medical marijuana use and be put on a register providing they have a qualifying condition.

Marijuana patients on a medical cannabis program then have access to a medical marijuana dispensary where they are able to obtain marijuana, cannabis oil or other cannabis products. Different states allow patients different amounts of marijuana with California not specifying possession limits for medical marijuana users whereas recreational marijuana users can possess one ounce of marijuana and grow up to six plants.

In New Mexico recreational weed has been decriminalized. They have a Medical Cannabis Program created under the Lynn and Erin Compassionate use act which legalizes medical marijuana meaning patients and their carers will not be prosecuted for possession providing it does not exceed an adequate supply and are able to apply for a license to grow marijuana plants.

Legal Recreational Marijuana

Despite still being illegal at the federal level recreational marijuana is now legal in Alaska, California, Colorado, Illinois, Main, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington and D.C the District of Columbia.

In 2012 Washington and Colorado became the first states to legalize weed for recreational use through popular ballot measures. Alaska and Oregon legalized recreational cannabis in 2014 and California, Nevada, Maine, and Massachusetts all approved ballot measures to legalize in 2016. The latest state to legalize was Illinois in 2019, becoming the first state to use the state legislature to legalize recreational commercial sale.

In these states adults over the age of 21 can purchase recreational marijuana legally but not all states have established a legal market for recreational weed where recreational cannabis can be bought from marijuana dispensaries. For example, recreational marijuana is legal in D.C in so far as you are allowed to possess and grow it but there is no legal market. Whereas in California there are separate dispensaries licensed for recreational sales where any resident over the age of 21 can go and purchase cannabis legally. Marijuana sales are subject to marijuana taxes in most states but these vary according to local jurisdiction.

One of the biggest arguments for legalization is the fact that the industry can then be regulated and taxed. Sales taxes from recreational pot can be used by states in a number of ways. In California tax revenue is used to pay for administration costs with any surplus being used to fund programs related to drug use. Colorado directs the funds to educational programs and Washington uses the revenue for healthcare programs. In 2018 cannabis taxes in Colorado were approximately six times the revenue collected from taxes on alcohol.

Often sales taxes are higher on recreational cannabis than they are on cannabis licensed for medical purposes meaning you can save money if you have a medical card. If you need a medical card you can apply online today and receive your letter of recommendation from a registered doctor in minutes. 

How Long Is Weed in Your System?

 

The question “how long is weed in your system?” is not a simple question as the answer depends on a variety of factors.

How long you will feel the effects of marijuana is also different to the length of time weed stays in your system from the perspective of drug screening and how long it might take a person to deal with marijuana withdrawal.

Marijuana detection time, how long a person will feel the effects of smoking weed and eliminating THC from the system is also influenced by a number of factors including frequency of use, body mass and metabolism, and the amount of THC or strength of the cannabis consumed.

These factors make it difficult to give a definitive answer as frequent users will have a longer detection window than infrequent users, and medical marijuana may have lower THC levels marijuana sold for recreational use.

You can apply online for a medical recommendation today to be able to access medical marijuana dispensaries in California.

How Long Weed Makes You High

When you have smoked marijuana the active components are quickly released into your bloodstream and start having an effect on your body when cannabis consumption is in the form of food or drink the effects will take longer to appear.

Delta9 THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis that is responsible for getting you high, attaches to cannabinoid receptors on neurons in the brain and activates them. THC affects the areas of the brain that influence memory, coordination, pleasure and sensory perception, including causing the brain to release dopamine which contributes to the pleasurable high. Marijuana users often report a sense of relaxation, a pleasant euphoria and a greater perception of colors amongst other effects.

However not all cannabis users experience the same effects and some people experience anxiety, fear and panic as well as feeling faint or sick.

Once you have consumed cannabis your body processes THC into THC metabolites before excreting them and eliminating THC from the body. The most common metabolite THC-COOH is the metabolite measured when testing for marijuana, in particular, when urine testing and conducting hair follicle tests.

Once THC has been metabolized you will no longer feel the effects but the drug remains detectable in a person’s system for varying amounts of time depending on the type of test being used.

Generally if you smoke cannabis you will start to feel the effects within minutes and the high will last for between 1 and 3 hours. When you eat cannabis products the THC first needs to pass through your digestive system and so the effects are slower to appear and can last for longer.

Factors that influence the length and intensity of the high include THC dose and your metabolism. There is also a difference between occasional users and heavy users as a chronic user will build up a tolerance and therefore feel less of an effect.

How Long Does Remain Detectable in Your System?

While the effects of weed wear off quite quickly marijuana tests can detect cannabis use and give positive results for periods of time ranging from 24 hours to 90 days depending on the type of test, the cutoff concentration and the frequency and intensity of use.

Factors that influence detection times include THC concentrations, your metabolism and whether you are an occasional or chronic user.

Marijuana drug tests might be used for a number of reasons, to check for substance abuse in treatment centers, as a condition of employment, or to test for drug and alcohol intoxication while driving.

As such detected marijuana may be in the form of detectable THC suggesting current intoxication, for example, saliva testing by police at the side of the road, or testing for metabolites in urine drug tests that will test positive if the person has used recently even if they are no longer under the influence.

Marijuana detection from oral fluids is usually detectable for up to 24 hours, although this time frame can increase for chronic users. This test can detect THC rather than its metabolites and does not check for CBD. If you are expecting a saliva test and need to use cannabis medicinally you may be able to switch to CBD products until you have got your drug test result.

Urine drug tests are designed to detect THC metabolites rather than THC itself. This increases the marijuana detection window and means you can test positive days or even weeks after the last time you smoked.

According to the Mayo Clinic THC metabolites appear in the urine from around 30 minutes but may take up to four hours, the test can detect these metabolites for anywhere from around 3 days for an occasional user, to over 30 days with chronic heavy use.

A hair test can detect cannabis use for even longer up to around 90 days and might be used to monitor drug addiction and drug abuse as well as for certain types of employment. The hair test results are unlikely to be positive if you have only used once.

Is Marijuana Addictive?

While marijuana is not generally considered addictive problem use can develop and in extreme cases this can take the form of addiction. Substance abuse disorders also known as drug addiction will generally require addiction treatment to get back to sober living.

Marijuana dependence can lead to withdrawal symptoms when you stop taking the drug. These symptoms usually peak at around seven days and can last for up to two weeks.

If you use, or are thinking about using cannabis medicinally you may need a medical marijuana card to allow you access to medical dispensaries and a greater variety of plants that are cultivated specifically for therapeutic use. Many therapeutic strains contain higher concentrations of CBD and lower concentrations of THC which may be preferable for those who are looking for the therapeutic benefits without the high.

 

Can You Fail a Drug Test From Secondhand Smoke?

While cannabis is now legal in many states including California marijuana drug testing is still common especially urine testing pre-employment as well as workplace drugs tests and the possibility of getting drug tested at the side of the road.

One question that people often ask is whether it is possible to feel the effects of cannabis from secondhand smoke. And whether it might even be possible to fail a drug test from second-hand marijuana smoke, even if you have not smoked marijuana yourself.

Can Secondhand Smoke Exposure Cause You to Fail a Drugs Test?

While technically it may be possible to fail a drugs test from secondhand smoke, in reality, it’s very unlikely. Drugs tests have a cut off level and in part, this is designed so as people will not test positive due to second-hand exposure. If levels are set too low people could claim passive exposure or in the case of opiates use what is known as the poppy seed defense, claiming they tested positive due to eating poppy seeds rather than taking drugs.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse has published a marijuana research report which looks, amongst other things, at the effects of secondhand exposure to marijuana smoke including the possible psychoactive effects and the possibility that someone could fail a drug test from secondhand smoke.

NIDA. 2020, April 8. What are the effects of secondhand exposure to marijuana smoke?. Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana/what-are-effects-secondhand-exposure-to-marijuana-smoke on 2020, July 28

They cite research finding that exposure to secondhand cannabis smoke in a ventilated space for 3 hours was sufficient to show the presence of THC in the blood and urine of non-smoking participants. But that the levels of THC were not enough to produce positive results on a drug test. This would be akin to sitting in a coffee shop with friends who were smoking for several hours but not actually smoking yourself.

However, when cannabis potency was high enough and smoked in a confined unventilated space, passive smoke exposure to marijuana was sufficient to produce positive drug tests from nonsmoker urine and participants reported a mild high. It is worth noting however that only one of six participants showed high enough levels to test positive and that even lower levels of THC could not be detected after 24 hours.

Although this evidence suggests that it could be possible to fail a drugs test due to the THC in your system from inhaling secondhand pot smoke secondhand exposure is still deemed highly unlikely to lead to impairment or the failing of a workplace drug test, even if you were stuck in an enclosed place with a heavy smoker.

This is due to the fact that very little THC is exhaled by marijuana users and so you would have to be in a room with a number of cannabis users all smoking cannabis with high THC concentration before passive exposure would cause you to test positive for THC.

If you use cannabis medicinally for pain management or other reasons you may wish to choose a medical marijuana strain with lower levels of THC and higher levels of CBD. CBD doesn’t produce any psychoactive effects and does not show up on a drug test result meaning the likelihood of failing a drug test from passive exposure would be even more minimal.

If you need a medical marijuana card you can apply for a letter of recommendation online today, risk-free, and receive your results in minutes.

Can You Get High From Secondhand Smoke?

While the research mentioned above suggests that under certain conditions non-smokers reported feelings of a mild high and showed slight cognitive impairments after intense exposure to passively smoked cannabis, again the amount of THC being exhaled is unlikely to get you high.

Even in an intentional ‘hot box’ the additional high being felt is more due to the elevated levels of CO2 and the slight lack of oxygen. So while exposure to smoke of any kind isn’t going to do you any good and children certainly shouldn’t be exposed in reality occasional exposure is unlikely to either get you high or do you any harm.

If you are looking to get high without smoking cannabis edibles are a better option. Just be aware that the effects of eating cannabis products take longer to feel and tend to be stronger in relation to the amount of THC you have consumed.

Choosing medicinal cannabis products can be a good option as they are well regulated. If you need a medical card you can apply online and get a doctors recommendation letter for many conditions including anxiety, pain, insomnia and nausea.

Should You Avoid Inhaling Secondhand Marijuana Smoke?

While it seems unlikely that you would fail a urine drug test or even an oral fluid test from passively smoked marijuana, it is one of the common myths that has just enough of an element of truth to make it stick, there are potentially other effects of secondhand marijuana smoke that you should be aware of.

Not enough research has been done on the effects of secondhand exposure to pot smoke. A lack of funding combined with marijuana laws in individual states not overriding the fact that marijuana is illegal at the federal level means that there has been limited research into the effects of cannabis consumed let alone passively.

However a study on rats suggests that the negative effects of second-hand cannabis smoke may be just as damaging as tobacco smoke. One study on rats showed a comparable effect on blood vessel dilation following exposure as that of exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke and it is known that cannabis smoke contains tar and other toxins.

More research needs to be done to be sure of the effects but it would appear to be advisable to avoid secondhand smoke as much as possible especially for children and those with respiratory conditions at least until more is understood about the possible long term effects.

How Long Does a Joint Stay in Your System?

 

Wondering how long a joint will make you high? Or how long cannabis is detectable on a drug test? Here are a few common questions answered.

How Long Does a Joint Make You High?

How long a joint will make you high is not a simple question to answer as it depends on a number of factors. These include:

• The strength of the marijuana or rather how much tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) it contains.
• How much you consume.
• Your body weight and in particular how much body fat you have.
• Your metabolism
• Whether or not you are a heavy smoker and have built up a tolerance.
• And how you consume as smoking or vaping will have a quicker effect that if you eat cannabis 

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If you are using cannabis medicinally you may wish to choose a strain that has lower levels of THC. You can apply for a medical recommendation here to give better access to medical marijuana.

How it works

Marijuana contains many active compounds that have different effects on the body. Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the compound responsible for getting you high.

When you smoke or vape cannabis the effects peak within minutes and usually last for 1-3 hours depending on the dose. However, when you eat cannabis effects will generally peak around the one to two-hour mark and may be noticeable for up to 24 hours.

Essentially your high lasts as long as THC is interacting with your endocannabinoid system which is dependent on your metabolism. In order for you to feel high, there needs to be THC in your bloodstream. Your body starts breaking this down as soon as you consume it and the faster your metabolism the quicker this process will be and therefore the shorter your high.

However, that interaction may not leave you feeling high at low levels and this is where tolerance comes in. Frequent users may feel less of a high or feel the effects of a hit of weed for a shorter period of time than infrequent users.

Detecting Marijuana

Detecting Marijuana and marijuana metabolites is generally possible for greater lengths of time than you are actually feeling the effects as marijuana stays in the body for varying lengths of time.

The THC in marijuana is broken down into a number of metabolites by the body. Both THC and its metabolites are hydrophobic (water-fearing) meaning they are not dissolved by water but instead are attracted to fats and end up being stored in body fat to be broken down and disposed of later. This is one reason the detection window for marijuana may be longer than other drugs.

How Long Can a Joint Be Detected on a Drugs Test?

Often people are less concerned with how a joint will make you high for and more concerned with marijuana detection time, wanting to figure out whether or not they are likely to test positive for marijuana in an upcoming drugs test.

Test detection varies on a number of factors including the type of test, what is being tested for (THC detection has a narrower window than THC metabolites), the amount of THC that has been ingested and whether the individual being tested is an occasional user, regular user or chronic user.

For example, a light user being subjected to a saliva drug test more than 24 hours after smoking a joint is likely to pass the test. Whereas heavy users who last smoked marijuana at the same time may still have detectable THC and it is possible this could be above cut-off levels.

Drug testing can broadly be split into two categories. Testing for present intoxication and testing for historical use. With this in mind how long a joint stays in your system will vary depending on what is being tested.

Testing For Present Intoxication

There are a number of different marijuana drug tests. When testing for present intoxication positive results will mean marijuana users must test positive for THC rather than it’s metabolites.

Saliva tests and blood tests can both be used and blood tests, in particular, have different detection times depending on how frequently a person uses cannabis products. A person who is a chronic user may take up to a week before their blood THC level drops below the 5 ng/ml cutoff level due to the way that the body metabolizes cannabinoids.

Therefore it is possible for a person to be drug tested and test positive despite not being currently high.

Testing for Historic Use

As well as testing for active THC test products have also been developed to check for historical drug use by checking for the presence of marijuana metabolites. The most common testing method is urine testing although hair follicle tests may also be used.

A urine drug test will show evidence of substance abuse for anywhere up to 90 days for heavy users whereas positive testing is only likely for around 2 weeks for one time users.

Urine drug tests are common as part of pre-employment checks and you may have to give a urine sample. Home drug tests can give you a good indication of whether or not you will test positive. If you are not a heavy user, haven’t smoked for a few weeks and have tested clean at home then you are probably fine.

Hair follicle drug testing is less common but can show evidence of drug use for much longer periods. A follicle test is likely to reveal drug use in the previous 3 months for frequent users but a hair test is less reliable for infrequent users.

If you are wondering how long a joint stays in your system because you have a drug test coming up and testing negative is important there are a few things you can do to increase your chances of passing. Firstly stop smoking now. Even medical marijuana with lower levels of THC will still give a positive test result and false positives are very rare.

There are detox kits you can get to support your body as it metabolizes the cannabis and may help you through THC withdrawal but ultimately your body will work at its own pace and every person is different.

 

Long Term Effects of Marijuana on the Brain – What to Know

 Do you know that marijuana is the most commonly used psychotropic drug in the United States, right after alcohol? Numbers show that in 2018, 11.8 million young adults in the U.S. reported marijuana use in the past year. The use of marijuana is more common in men than in women. Even though cannabis consumption keeps increasing, most people are not aware of all the effects this plant has on the brain. In this post, we discuss what effects marijuana could have on brain health with long-term use. Are there any risks? Scroll down to find out.

Short-term effects of marijuana 

We’re going to start with a brief rundown of short-term effects on brain and body associated with marijuana use. They include:

• Impaired memory
• Lower anxiety
• Disrupted motor control
• Bigger appetite
• Faster heart rate
• Sleep pattern changes
• Decreased pain

How marijuana affects cognitive functions long-term ?

Despite the ever-growing use of marijuana, the effects of long-term use are still not thoroughly elucidated. The reason is simple; a vast majority of studies on cannabis focused on short-term effects and results that people can experience. 

However, some long-term effects of marijuana are short-term carry-over effects. 

Why does that happen?

The body fat attracts THC, the psychoactive cannabinoid responsible for the “high” effect. Since the cellular walls in the body are comprised of fat, it’s easy for cells to absorb THC. What happens next is that THC is re-released gradually over a certain period of time. 

If you’ve ever wondered how a person can test positive for marijuana even when not using it for several days now, you know the reason. Traces of THC persist in the body for up to a month after you stop smoking. This also explains why some short-term effects of marijuana use may last for a while.

Before you start thinking this is just a theory, it’s worth noting the scientific evidence confirms it. For example, a study from the Addictive Behaviors showed that people do experience some effects of marijuana for a while even after they stop using it. The main objective of this cross-sectional study was to examine relationships between recent and past cannabis use on neurocognitive functioning. 

For this purpose, the scientists enrolled 158 subjects into the study. Of these, 68 participants were recent users, 41 were past users, and 49 subjects were non-users. Past users were those who haven’t used marijuana for more than 28 days or four weeks.

Results showed that recent marijuana users demonstrated significantly worse attention and working memory performance than non-users. Their information processing speed and executive functioning were also worse than in people who have never used marijuana. Interestingly, there was no statistically significant difference between recent and past cannabis users in terms of neurocognitive performance. 

Although cognitive functions were the worst in recent marijuana users, past users performed more poorly on measures of executive function than non-users. This implies that the effects of cannabis on the brain don’t go away once a person stops using it; they remain for a while. 

These findings dictate that as long as you have THC in the body, marijuana will continue to affect the brain. 

While it’s evident that marijuana can impair cognitive functions, the effects on the brain itself and its structure and functions need more attention and further investigation. This subject is not totally clear, but several studies have inspected it, and we’re going to discuss their findings below.

Long-term effects of marijuana on the brain

As the rates of marijuana use increase, so do the questions about its influence on the brain. The research mostly focuses on short-term effects, as mentioned above, but studies on the long-term impact of cannabis are emerging, and we can expect even more of them in the future.

A study from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) found that marijuana use can change brain structures, but further longitudinal study approaches are necessary to uncover more on this subject. The research included 110 participants, of which 62 were non-users, and 48 people were cannabis users. Marijuana users were enrolled in the study if they currently use marijuana regularly at least four times a week over the last six months.

The findings showed that heavy, chronic marijuana users have lower orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) gray matter volume compared to their counterparts who don’t use cannabis. The orbitofrontal cortex is the area of a prefrontal cortex that sits above the eye sockets. It is located at the front of your brain. This part of the brain has extensive connections with sensory areas and limbic system structures that are involved in memory and emotion. The OFC also receives information about the sight of the objects.

The effects of marijuana use on OFC aren’t as shocking if we bear in mind that OFC is the main area in the reward network. Moreover, OFC is abundant in cannabinoid receptor CB1, and it’s significantly implicated in addictive behaviors. Since CB1 receptors, which are a part of the endocannabinoid system, are positioned on excitatory terminals of cortical projection neurons, then downregulation of these receptors negatively affects the plasticity of OFC. While scientists couldn’t identify all the mechanisms through which marijuana use decreases OFC gray matter volumes, they theorize it could be down to changes in cell size, neuronal loss, and reduction in CB1 density. 

In other words, the PNAS study confirms the unfavorable effect of marijuana on OFC connectivity but also emphasizes the complexity of this problem. You see, greater functional connectivity of OFC was linked to an earlier age of onset of regular use, while chronic marijuana use led to slower connectivity. This relationship only paints a picture of how complicated the effects of marijuana on the brain really are. Although some evidence shows that CB1 receptor down-regulation may return to normal values with marijuana abstinence, scientists concluded that more research is needed to confirm that.

Evidence also shows that marijuana use can affect white matter, and the younger a person is when he starts smoking cannabis, the greater the damage. This study showed that marijuana use had no impact on cortical volumes.

The journal PLoS One published a study which found that morphological brain alterations are observed in adults and adolescents who use marijuana. These alterations are especially pronounced in the medial temporal and frontal cortices and cerebellum. The effects are associated with the amount of exposure to cannabis.

When we’re talking about brain volume and cannabis use, it’s important to mention that evidence shows people with psychosis are more prone to these changes. However, the impact of marijuana on the brains of people with psychological problems and risks of psychosis should be further elucidated. 

However, not all studies on this subject agree that marijuana is responsible for brain changes. For instance, the JAMA Psychiatry published a study which showed that exposure to marijuana was related to smaller changes in the left amygdala and right ventral striatum volumes. That being said, these changes weren’t that significant. They were within normal variations, scientists explain. This led the scientists to conclude that differences in amygdala volume in marijuana users could be attributed to common factors ranging from genetic to environmental origin. The causal influence (of cannabis use on changes in amygdala volume) has little support. 

Just a reminder, the amygdala is an important part of the brain, and it plays a key role in emotion and behavior.

Brain development changes with marijuana

Human brain changes and develops throughout life, but it is the most malleable in a period between birth and the 21st birthday. Since many teenagers start smoking marijuana and continue to do so well into adulthood, it’s impossible not to wonder how cannabis affects developing brains. A study from the Brain journal attempted to answer that question. 

A team of researchers compared MRI scans of subjects who have started using marijuana in adolescence with the scans of participants who have never used cannabis. In marijuana users, the neural connections between the right and left brain hemispheres were decreased. This finding means that internal communication in the brains of marijuana users is lower than in non-users.

Despite the importance of the study and its results, you still need to keep in mind a few things. Like a vast majority of studies on the effects of cannabis, this one also doesn’t show what happens when a person stops using marijuana for a certain period of time. In other words, this research doesn’t show whether internal communication in the brain improves once a long-time marijuana user decides to stop. Some impairments could have been in the brain before marijuana use in the first place.

On that note, another study found that people who started using cannabis in their adolescent years had lower IQs in their 30s compared to childhood. The frequent cannabis use is associated with a loss of six to eight IQ points measured in mid-adulthood. 

The greatest drop in cognitive performance was among people who started using marijuana the youngest and who smoked most heavily. The weak cognitive performance was independent of their socioeconomic status and other parameters. Interestingly, this study showed that abstaining from marijuana doesn’t fully restore neuropsychological functioning. In other words, those subjects didn’t restore the lost IQ points after abstaining from marijuana. 

Another piece of evidence shows that young marijuana users experience a significant decline in verbal ability and general knowledge between the preteen years and late adolescence or early adulthood. That being said, those who started using cannabis at an older age already had low scores at the beginning of the study. More precisely, they had low scores on the brain functions even before they started using cannabis.

Can long-term marijuana use harm my brain?

The influence of marijuana use on the brain is a subject of many studies, but many of them have conflicting results. Several studies have shown that marijuana can, indeed, affect cognitive performance and induce some structural changes in the brain. 

But, this doesn’t mean marijuana can destroy the brain entirely. 

Long-term and heavy cannabis usage (e.g., from adolescence to adulthood) can slow down the brain, but won’t scramble it. 

The negative effects of marijuana on the brain are more pronounced in adolescent cannabis smokers who continue using it into adulthood. 

A lot more studies are necessary to determine just how much marijuana use can impair the brain’s functions. 

One of the greatest obstacles that prevent scientists from learning all the short- and long-term effects of marijuana on the brain is that study participants often use multiple substances. Data about the participants’ health and mental functioning before the study is limited. This also doesn’t allow scientists to take a look at the broader picture. Changes in brain and cognitive functions can occur due to a wide range of reasons, including another illicit drug, but without enough data, it’s difficult for scientists to rule out other potential factors.

How marijuana affects memory?

As seen throughout this post, marijuana can have a significant impact on brain function and cognitive abilities, including memory. 

But have you ever wondered why smoking marijuana could impair your memory and make you forgetful?

Memory impairment from cannabis happens because THC changes the way the hippocampus processes information. Don’t forget that the hippocampus is an area of the brain responsible for the formation of memory.

As you age, the number of neurons in the hippocampus decreases. As a result, it becomes more difficult to learn and store new information. Chronic exposure to THC could accelerate the age-related loss of neurons in the hippocampus. In turn, this area of the brain can’t form memory properly. 

Conclusion

In this post, we discussed the long-term effects of marijuana use on the brain. Evidence on this subject is still conflicting, but scientists agree that early onset of marijuana use can induce structural changes in the brain and lower IQ scores. A lot more research is necessary to learn more about this subject.

References
https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana/what-scope-marijuana-use-in-united-states
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4032061/
https://www.pnas.org/content/111/47/16913.full
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4925620/
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0055821
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3474956/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26308883/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22669080/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22927402/
https://www.pnas.org/content/113/5/E500
https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana/what-are-marijuanas-long-term-effects-brain