BEACON TRANSCRIPT – It is nothing new under the sun that the idea of legalizing marijuana sparks debates. Everybody comes in to throw their two cents in. Some are in favor of legalizing the recreational drug while others believe that his step could be harmful. A recent study has revealed that chronic marijuana use can impede cognitive functions, such as long-term memory and verbal skills.

Although some states have legalized medicinal marijuana, the debate regarding legalizing the drug for recreational use is still out there. Naturally, more and more studies sprout out of the blue in order to prove that marijuana, along with other recreational drugs are bad for us and for our health (we keep hearing Mackey’s voice here).

One of this studies was performed by a team of medical scientists from University of Lausanne, in Switzerland. According to Doctor Reto Auer, the cognitive skills of a chronic marijuana user begin to decrease as the dose increases. Moreover, it would seem the study stresses out the fact this memory decline becomes acuter as the consumer makes his grand entrance into the middle age.

Although the study failed to point out that chronic exposure is, we can safely assume that you won’t be at risk of cognitive decline if you’ve tried puffing from a joint one or twice.

Now, on to the facts. The doctor and his team of medical researchers declared that they did not expect to find such a strong bond between marijuana usage and cognitive degeneration. According to their findings, chronic users who are not in their 40s or 50s may experience long-term memory issues.

The team also pointed out that for every 5 additional years of smoking pot, a patient has a high chance of developing memory-related issues. In order to test out their theory, the team of scientists enrolled a couple of volunteers. The results showed that patients who used to be chronic consumers have a 50 percent chance of memorizing one less word from a list containing 15 words.

A team of scientists from Switzerland discovered that chronic marijuana use can impede cognitive functions. Moreover, according to their statements, the result remained the same even after they took into account other factors such as smoking, drinking or poor diets.

In the end, Doctor Auer said that this study should not be taken for granted because it does not actually prove that marijuana usage can, in fact, lead to long-term memory issues. He also states that although the study failed to show concrete results, it should be taken into consideration when talking about the legalization of marijuana.

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