Pot Use Disrupts the Brain’s Natural Reward System
The Center for Brain Health at the University of Texas at Dallas reported in a paper published in the journal, Human Brain Mapping, that long-term marijuana users had more activity in the brain’s reward processes when they saw bongs, joints, or blunts than when they saw oranges, grapes, or apples or other natural cues.
Researchers say the reward system disruption relates with problems, including family issues that individuals have due to of their pot use, and that “continued marijuana use despite these problems is an indicator of marijuana dependence.”
The National Institute on Drug Abuse funded the research on marijuana users who had used the drug on average for 12 years.
