One question which hounds many smokers and nonsmokers about the ill-effect of smoking – Does smoking weed kill brain cells? In the reality, not a single study has been able to establish or demonstrate insanity, mental impairment or cellular damage brought on by smoking weed specifically – even heavy weed smoking. However, this does not deny the fact that marijuana can be abused. Read on to know does smoking weed kill brain cells.

Smoking Weed Kills Brain Cells – The Study

Health experts now believe that smoking weed does not cause any harm to brain cells. This question raised when a few experiments were conducted on animals and some structural changes in the brain cells (not actual death) were observed. These structural changes were observed only in those animals who were exposed to high doses of marijuana. Most health critics cite the studies conducted on monkeys by Dr. Robert G. Heath. His study findings reported brain damage in three monkeys who had been heavily dosed with marijuana.

Studies Disapproved the Claims

Dr. Robert G. Heath’s scientific study was never replicated successfully. His study findings has since been disapproved by two better controlled studies conducted on a large scale. One study was conducted by Gordon Pryor and Charles Robert of SRI International and the other by Dr. William Slicker of the National Center for Toxicological Research. Both the studies were unable to find any relevant evidence of physical changes in the monkey’s brains. Their brains were exposed to daily, regular doses of marijuana for nearly a year.

Human Studies on Structural Changes in Brain

Human studies conducted on the heavy users in Costa Rica and Jamaica failed to find any relevant evidence of abnormalities in the brain physiology. Although there is no real evidence that marijuana causes permanent damage to the brain; users should know the fact that persistent problems in short-term memory have been observed in heavy, chronic weed smokers. These changes were observed in the users after 6-12 weeks of abstinence. Also, one must be aware of the fact that several other drugs, including alcohol, are renowned to lead alterations in the brain.