“these abnormal structural changes in the amygdala and nucleus accumbens could indicate that the experience with marijuana alters brain organization and may produce changes in function and behavior. It also is possible that the brain is adapting to marijuana exposure and that these new connections may encourage further marijuana use.”
Are Cannabis Critics Biased?
With all this in mind, there are key two points which must be noted.
First, the 2014 Neuroscience study relies on data drawn from fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scans. This is problematic because, as we noted in our article on talking to your children about medical marijuana, fMRI scans serve as a poor stand-in for real cognitive effects. In fact, one rather sarcastic study subjected a dead salmon to various images – and sure enough, its non-functioning brain lit up on an fMRI scan. (This fMRI analysis by Dr. R. Todd Constable, PhD, who serves as the Director MRI Research at the Yale School of Medicine’s Magnetic Resonance Research Center, goes into depth discussing the various shortcomings of fMRI technology.)
Second, the supposition that changes on fMRI are harmful, rather than beneficial, are pure bias. In her letter to the Commissioner, Dr. Levy notes she has “personally witnessed the toll of addiction on these young lives as well as on the lives of countless friends, parents and siblings” in her capacity as Director of the Adolescent Substance Abuse Program (ASAP) at Boston Children’s Hospital. The director of a substance abuse program works exclusively with individuals who suffer from addiction, and is therefore not a neutral source of information.
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