Researchers at the University of Colorado in Boulder find that alcohol is more damaging to the brain and that marijuana doesn’t appear to alter its structure….
It’s a common stereotype that people who smoke weed are a bit unstable and missing a few brain cells.
But a new study from researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder found that alcohol is much more damaging to your brain than marijuana. In fact, the study – which was published in the journal Addiction – suggests that weed use doesn’t seem to alter the structure of a person’s brain in any way whatsoever.
Kent Hutchison, a co-author of the study, told Medical News Today that he wanted to examine what effect pot has on a person’s brain because there isn’t a conclusive answer to the question.
According to him, there are many studies on the effect marijuana has on the brain but they lack consistency in terms of the actual brain structures.”
For the study, researchers wanted to see the relationship between alcohol and marijuana use and the volume of gray and white matter in a person’s brain. Both gray and white matter are important for a healthy and functioning brain.
The study involved 853 people aged 18 to 55 and 439 teenagers. They had “a range of alcohol and cannabis use,” the researchers wrote.
More: 5 Things That Makes Alcohol The Most Dangerous Drug Of All
It was found that among those who drank alcohol, adults – and to a lesser extent, teens – had a reduction in gray matter volume.
The study found that white matter was affected in adults, but not teenagers, who drank. These effects were especially seen in adults with a history of drinking for years, according to Medical News Today.
But among marijuana users (defined as those who had smoked in the past 30 days), there was no relationship between getting high and the structure of a person’s brain.
That led Hutchinson (co-author of the study) to make the bold proclamation below.
“While marijuana may also have some negative consequences,” he told Medical News Today, “it definitely is nowhere near the negative consequences of alcohol.”
