Subject: Cannabis increases CBF!
From: [email-masked] (Marc Anderson)
Date: 22 Apr 93 20:34:24 GMT
Newsgroups: alt.drugs,alt.psychoactives

With all the talk about how bad cocaine is bad because it reduces cerebral
blood flow (CBF)/ glucose expenditure, I bumped into some research that found
cannabis increases CBF in the right and left frontal lobes and the left
temporal lobe.

This would be a good thing to throw at a drug warrior who claims cocaine is
bad because it decreases CBF.  (ask him, "does this mean that cannabis is good
because it increases CBF?" -- of course it doesn't, but it's a good thing to
know anyway..)

[Mathew, R.J.; Wilson, W.H.  (1993):  Acute changes in cerebral blood flow
after smoking marijuana.  _Life Sciences_.  52(8):757-767.]

Abstract:
      In experienced marijuana smokers, marijuana smoking was accompanied
   by a significant bilateral increase in cerebral blood flow (CBF)
   especially in the frontal regions and cerebral blood velocity.  The
   post-marijuana CBF increase could not be explained on the basis on
   changes in general circulation or respiration.  Similarly, the CBF
   increase was unrelated to plasma levels of tetrahydrocannabinol and 
   extracranial circulation.  Behavioral changes showed significant 
   correlations with CBF.  CBF and brain function are closely coupled and
   therefore it seemed highly likely that CBF changes after marijuana were
   closely related to its effect on mood and behavior.

-marc
[email-masked]