Does cannabis damage the brains frontal lobes?
Without either performing active CAT scans, which would require a person to be smoking cannabis while being scanned. Or performing specific investigations during an autopsy it would be impossible to tell. However the frontal lobes are definitely affected while intoxicated as these are the areas of the brain that control judgement and judgement of the user is seriously impaired. I suppose you could make the fair assumption that if the presence of THC can impair judgement to this degree then it would be likely that this could lead to on-going damage.
It is definitely damaging to the brain, though I’m not sure that it specifically affects the frontal lobes. delta9-tetrahydracannabinol is toxic to cells in the hippocampus, thalmus, and amygdala. Damage in these areas can cause things like sleep disturbance, hallucinations, anxiety and panic disorders, and many other problems. We know that marijuana definitely affects short-term memory which also affects long-term memory (if it can’t be stored for the short-term, it can’t be remembered for the long-term), and this makes you look like your frontal lobe is affected. There is some excellent research coming out from Norway and Australia right now about how marijauna affects the brain, and none of it is very positive.
