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Zachary Armijo

Mr. Shumaker

English 102

3 April 2018

An Annotated Bibliography for Marijuana’s Effects on the Brain

With the legalization of marijuana being a new topic arising within the last few years,
researchers are scrambling now more than ever to find out and make sound conclusions on how
marijuana effects people long-term. It is important to understand that the ability to draw
definitive conclusions about marijuana’s long-term impact (especially on the brain) is often
limited because of study participants from past studies using multiple substances, researchers
having limited data about the participant’s health, or mental health problems. This grounding
should not only validate the true effects of marijuana on the brain but, also the risks associated
with cannabis use.

NIDA. "Marijuana." National Institute on Drug Abuse, 9 Feb. 2018,

https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/marijuana. Accessed 3 Apr. 2018.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse has been collecting data and adding to this fact
page on marijuana periodically over the last decade while, keeping their information up to date
as it was revised in February of 2018. Their findings conclude that regular marijuana use in
adolescence causes altered connectivity and reduced volume of specific brain regions involved in
a broad range of executive functions (ex. memory, learning, and impulse control) compared to
those who don’t use marijuana. The NIH also tried to claim with a study done in New Zealand,
that frequent marijuana use in adolescence was associated with a loss of an average of 6 or up to
8 IQ points. Further down in the article, they disprove this by talking about a more recent study
that disproved the relationship between marijuana use and IQ loss. Although disproving that
correlation, they concluded from that study that marijuana creates a significant decline in verbal
ability and in general knowledge.

NIDA. "Marijuana." National Institute on Drug Abuse, 12 Feb. 2018,

https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana. Accessed 3 Apr. 2018.

Being this source is from the same website as the first source, similar ideas of using
marijuana in adolescence impairs thinking, memory, and learning functions are stated in this
research report. This research report specifically looked more into the mental effects of
marijuana use long-term saying it can cause temporary hallucinations, temporary paranoia, and
schizophrenia. They also stated that marijuana use has been linked to depression, anxiety, and
suicidal thoughts among teens. At the end of this article, it says “however, study findings have
been mixed” indicating it is a situational case for these diseases.
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Thomas, Grace, et al. “Adverse Cardiovascular, Cerebrovascular, and Peripheral Vascular

Effects of Marijuana Inhalation: What Cardiologists Need to Know.” The American Journal of
Cardiology, vol. 113, no. 1, 2014, pp. 187–190., doi:10.1016/j.amjcard.2013.09.042.

Despite my topic specifically looking into marijuana’s effects of the brain, I thought it
was necessary to gather information on other health effects. The peripheral vascular effects
portion of the journal is what attracted me to the journal because I was curious to see how it
came back to affect the brain. In this journal, there were small findings of marijuana use leading
to cardiac deaths and strokes. More interesting, heavy marijuana use can lead to cannabis
arteritis, which leads to ulcers forming generally on feet/legs causing poor blood flow.

Volkow, N. D., Baler, R. D., Compton, W. M., & Weiss, S. R. B. (2014). Adverse health effects
of marijuana use. The New England Journal of Medicine, 370(23), 2219-27. Retrieved from
http://unr.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search-proquest-
com.unr.idm.oclc.org/docview/1533428544?accountid=452

This journal specifically had a very informative section on the effects of marijuana on
brain development. If exposed prenatally or in adolescence to marijuana, THC can recalibrate
sensitivity of the reward system to other drugs. Specifically, with prenatal exposure, it interferes
with cytosketal dynamics which are critical to establishing axon connections between neurons in
your brain. Surveyed from adults who smoked during adolescence have impaired neural
connectivity (less brain fibers) in specific brain regions. This directly effects the precuneus and
the fimbria, which are responsible for alertness, self-conscious awareness, learning and memory.
In addition, brain imaging studies in people who use cannabis have revealed decreased activity in
prefrontal regions of the brain and reduced volumes in the hippocampus (responsible for learning
and memory).

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health and Medicine Division;
Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice; Committee on the Health Effects of
Marijuana: An Evidence Review and Research Agenda. The Health Effects of Cannabis and
Cannabinoids: The Current State of Evidence and Recommendations for Research. Washington
(DC): National Academies Press (US); 2017 Jan 12. 12, Mental Health. Available from:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK425748/

Being a large book with a lot of knowledge, I focused on the psychosocial and mental
health sections specifically when looking into this source. They reinforced the idea of
impairment of learning, memory, and attention with marijuana use stated in all of the previous
sources. This journal went as far as saying that “cannabis use during adolescence is related to
impairments in subsequent academic achievements and education, employment and income, and
social relationships/roles”, which I think is another situational case. They also stated that regular
cannabis use is likely to increase risk for developing social anxiety disorder.

Battistella, Giovanni, et al. “Long-Term Effects of Cannabis on Brain Structure.” Shibboleth

Authentication Request, 17 Mar. 2014, www.nature.com.unr.idm.oclc.org/articles/npp201467.
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This journal was important to my study because it not only confirmed previous
knowledge but, also went more into the scientific areas of the brain structure and how your brain
changes as you use marijuana over time. Regular cannabis use is associated with gray matter
volume reduction in the medial temporal cortex, temporal pole, parahippocampal gyrus, insula,
and orbitofrontal cortex which are all functionally associated with motivational, emotional, and
affective processing.

Schreiner, Amy M., and Michael E. Dunn. “Residual Effects of Cannabis Use on Neurocognitive
Performance after Prolonged Abstinence: A Meta-Analysis.”Experimental and Clinical
Psychopharmacology, vol. 20, no. 5, 2012, pp. 420–429., doi:10.1037/a0029117.

When looking into many sources on the effects on the brain specifically, you have to look
at studies that test brain power and can map brains in some way measurable to your audience. In
this analysis, they conducted 2 meta-analyses “in an effort to resolve inconsistencies in the
evidence of lasting residual effects of cannabis use.” They found 33 studies that met inclusion
criteria concluding that cannabis has a small negative effect for neurocognitive performance but,
all studies were prevented from methodological limitations invalidating them. In the second
meta-analysis, they found 13 of the original 33 studies met inclusion criteria concluding in “NO
significant effect of cannabis on global neurocognitive performance or any effect on the eight
assessed domains.”

Boden, Matthew Tyler, et al. “The Effects of Cannabis Use Expectancies on Self-Initiated
Cannabis Cessation.” Addiction, vol. 108, no. 9, 2013, pp. 1649–1657., doi:10.1111/add.12233.

In the broad spectrum of addiction, it is important to keep in mind expectancies and

mindset of those who are addicted. Through surveying, researchers explored the mindset of
stoners and their expectancies. Results were similar in effect and statistical significance when
adjusting for demographic factors, motivation to quit cannabis, mental disorder diagnoses, and
alcohol & tobacco use when surveying cannabis users. Concluding in the USA, “cannabis use
expectancies, especially those regarding the positive effects, appear to be strongly linked to
cannabis use and quit failure.”