Does using Marijuana cause memory loss?

[Ganjaroo]

My mother told me of how she used weed avidly in her youth and told me that she has suffered memory loss from it...

This is the one thing I am afraid of when using weed.

Can anybody please shed some light?

 

[StayBlazin716]

Ironic, seeing as marijuana is one of the medical uses for Alzheimer's .

 

[Ganjaroo]

Maybe I misinterpreted her, Maybe she meant she was always stoned and didn't remember her younger years because of that?

It's the one thing I'd really hate, I cherish my memories!

 

[QueenTokelove]

Hell with age you're going to lose some of your memory. It seems like a natural process to me. I don't know as far as what you're saying though.

 

[Ganjaroo]

Yeah, I know memory fades with age. Doesn't mean I don't want to hold them as long as possible

 

[QueenTokelove]

Yeah, I know memory fades with age. Doesn't mean I don't want to hold them as long as possible

I understand what you mean. When my father passed he barely recognized me.

 

[Aberration]

You won't be able to form short term memories while stoned as well as you do when sober. The effect can be more noticeable if you get high a lot. Stop getting high and the effect will disappear allowing you to form short term memories normally again, but the memories you did not form while high will still be missing. It's also hard to recall things sometimes when you are high but that goes away when you sober up as well. The cannabinoids interfere with the process of storing the memory in the first place. IMO it's the only honest bad mark against cannabis. I choose to live with it because it's not that bad (with directed effort I can overcome it mostly) and my knees are very much that bad.

 

[Ganjaroo]

You won't be able to form short term memories while stoned as well as you do when sober. The effect can be more noticeable if you get high a lot. Stop getting high and the effect will disappear allowing you to form short term memories normally again, but the memories you did not form while high will still be missing. It's also hard to recall things sometimes when you are high but that goes away when you sober up as well. The cannabinoids interfere with the process of storing the memory in the first place. IMO it's the only honest bad mark against cannabis. I choose to live with it because it's not that bad (with directed effort I can overcome it mostly) and my knees are very much that bad.

Thanks heaps! That helps me get my head around the whole situation!
Did you like... practice memory techniques to try to minimize it? or did you just learn to remember a little more by thinking about when you were high?

I agree with you on the 'only honest bad mark' part, I will never understand why so many people simply believe 'weed is bad'.

 

[420]

Cannabis use has absolutely nothing to do with long term memory, it only effects short term memory and only while under the influence. Cannabis has actually been scientifically proven to preserve brain cells.

 

[SkinnyChef]

Ummmm.. what was this post about?

 

[Ganjaroo]

Cannabis use has absolutely nothing to do with long term memory, it only effects short term memory and only while under the influence. Cannabis has actually been scientifically proven to preserve brain cells.

So if it effects short term memory... over a long time. Then it effects your memory quite a bit? remember, I said she doesn't remember alot of her younger years when she smoked. Meaning when she was a teenager up till the point I came round.

How much weed or regular use would it take before it starts to take an impact on ones memory?

Thanks for the information though. I'm really glad I posted this thread!

P.s As I replied to this some really old guy with massive long hair drove past in a blue combie...

 

[Aberration]

It is far more likely that she doesn't remember her younger years due to age. Or she was stoned all the time. Cannabis doesn't take memories away. It only affects the ability to form the short term memories in the first place. She might have trouble remembering things because she is high now, but when she is sober the effect is gone. If she doesn't remember things from her youth, it is due to not forming the memory then, or due to losing the memory to a non-cannabis cause.

 

[Ganjaroo]

It is far more likely that she doesn't remember her younger years due to age. Or she was stoned all the time. Cannabis doesn't take memories away. It only affects the ability to form the short term memories in the first place. She might have trouble remembering things because she is high now, but when she is sober the effect is gone. If she doesn't remember things from her youth, it is due to not forming the memory then, or due to losing the memory to a non-cannabis cause.

I think the most likely cause is that her memories may not have formed properly like you had said. Seems the most likely to me! Ohwells. I guess I'll be safe then! I have been dry for a few weeks :"( Trying to order an Oz as we speak (or as I type haha). So keen

 

[cpt chronic]

maybe her diet was lacking in omega 3's from foods such as fish & nuts.

 

[Ganjaroo]

maybe her diet was lacking in omega 3's from foods such as fish & nuts.

HAHA! That's actually really funny because I am from New Zealand. (Most common meal we eat is fish and deep fried chips... oddly enough its actually our culture to eat such foods).

 

[Hobos Bandaid]

if you forgot it probably wasnt meant to remember? ehhe.