Science Confirms The Obvious: Smoking Pot Makes You Less Motivated
Actress Dorthy Short as Mary Lane in the film "Reefer Madness," 1936 Louis J. Gasnier The brains of habitual cannabis users have trouble synthesizing dopamine, according to a small study. Does smoking a joint make you feel a little bit lazy? According to new research, when your "Reefer Madness" turns into "Reefer Can't-get-off-the-couch," it could be because the cannabis is suppressing your ability to synthesize dopamine--the neurotransmitter associated with the pleasure of eating chocolate, and increasingly, motivation. In an effort to study the (controversial) link between cannabis use and psychosis, researchers from three London universities examined the brains of pot smokers for differences in dopamine levels, since abnormal dopamine activity is associated with psychotic symptoms, especially schizophrenia. Their work is published online in Biological Psychiatry. Using PET scans, the study looked at the brains of 19 regular cannabis users who had started smoking pot as teens, and had experienced psychosis-like behaviors under the...