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Quote: from Wilder at 11:42 am on Jan. 2, 2009

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Short-term memory loss is a common side effect of smoking cannabis. To simplify things a bit, you get high because of chemicals called cannabinoids in the smoke; they bind to special cannabinoid receptors on your brain and cause it to act differently and release dopamine (chemical happiness). When you come down most of the cannabinoids have left your brain (causing reality to seem normal again) and the dopamine has been reabsorbed (causing you to no longer be incredibly happy), but there are still some cannabinoids attached to your brain. This will continue to impair some cognitive functions such as short term memory until the cannabinoids have left entirely; generally this takes very little time, but in heavy smokers it can take up to a month for these effect to fade entirely.  

 While what you're experiencing is (based upon how much/ how long you've been smoking) probably purely short term memory loss, it's worth pointing out that heavy cannabis use over a long period of time also can cause permanent memory loss. Over time your hippocampus (part of the brain associated with things like memory) naturally degrades; rats that were given a massive injection of THC every day for one third of their lives had hippocampuses that were 50% more degraded than rats that were not given THC. Assuming this ratio applies to humans, that would imply that if you smoke a massive amount of weed every day for about 30 years, your short term memory will be one and a half times as bad as someone the same age who hasn't smoked pot.

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wow, thank you ahah
but uhh, I have another question since it seems like you know a lot about the topic. So one of my friends moms has Alzheimer disease. She claims that weed improves her memory and that she's smoked with her one time (without the fathers concent). Anyways my friend herself smokes multiple times a day for like 4 years now. Does she have a greater risk of Alzheimer since it will destroy her short term memory or what

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There is no link between Marijuana use and Alzheimers, again alittle research will go a long way.