Chapter 1: How does marijuana affect the brain?
Thank you, doctor. You study the brain, not just emotions, but the physical brain, the actual biology of the brain. I've got a lot of questions for you about that, but let's just start with cannabis. What are the effects of cannabis on the brain, marijuana on the brain?
So I published a study on a thousand marijuana users, compared it to our healthy group. Every area of their brain was lower in blood flow and activity. And then just this year. Measurably. Measurably. On the imaging study we do, which is called SPECT, S-P-E-C-T, single photon emission computed tomography. It looks at blood flow activity, but also looks at mitochondrial function.
I have to ask you this, pardon my ignorance, what's mitochondrial function?
Chapter 2: Why is brain damage on the rise among young people?
So the mitochondria are little energy powerhouses in your cell. They activate and keep the cell energized and alive. And 49% of the tracer that we do this study with is actually taken up by the mitochondria in the brain. So when we see low activity, it's really low activity along with decreased blood flow.
And then there's a new study by a completely separate group than ours on a thousand young marijuana users. And the areas of the brain involved in learning and memory were low. and blood flow and activity. So it's not just me because I have a problem with marijuana.
It's other scientists as well saying marijuana is not great for the brain.
What are the effects of less mitochondrial activity and lower blood flow?
So it can go with tiredness. It can go with low motivation.
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Chapter 3: What impact does marijuana have on testosterone levels?
It can go with depression over time. It can go with more anxiety because your brain can't settle it down. And in vulnerable people, it can go with an increased risk of psychosis.
how does that work we're all of a sudden seeing because marijuana is not a drug it's a medicine we've been told it's the most healing medicine ever discovered it's quote natural god made it um and it's the answer to most of our physical and psychological problems and now all of a sudden there seem to be all these studies showing a direct connection between heavy marijuana use and psychosis.
Is that connection real? And if so, how exactly does that happen? Do we know?
Well, it's absolutely real. And... People who have a certain genetic makeup are more vulnerable to becoming psychotic. One gene in particular, if you have a combination of an abnormality in that gene, you have a seven fold, so that's a 700% increased risk of becoming psychotic if you are a heavy user of marijuana.
So not for everybody, but for everybody, the risk is somewhere between two to four times, especially if you start young. And now it's the young that are suffering. From the idea that marijuana is innocuous, because it's not innocuous, but because they think it's innocuous, I think psilocybin is going to go the same way.
When the perception of the dangerousness of a drug goes down, its use goes up. And that's what we've seen. And teenagers who use... have a higher incidence of anxiety, depression, suicide and psychosis in their 20s. And so you're taking a developing brain and altering how that brain develops.
And what we're seeing is the highest incidence of brain and mental health problems in young people we have ever seen. A study from the CDC, 57% of teenage girls report being persistently sad. 57%? 57%. 32% have thought of killing themselves. Think of that. Of all? There's a whole population? Girls, teenage girls, 32% have thought of killing themselves.
32% of all teenage girls in the United States?
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Chapter 4: Why isn't the government warning about the dangers of marijuana?
Yes. 24% have planned to kill themselves and 13% have tried.
Chapter 5: What are the risks associated with increased mushroom use?
we're in this mental mess and we have to go, why? And it's more complicated than just marijuana, but marijuana is clearly part of it. And part of it are the societal lies that I've seen from the 80s. So I started my psychiatric residency in 1982, and I trained at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., And 1987, video games started to come out.
And they're like, oh, these are so exciting. With no neuroscience study on what do video games do to development. And it's not good. There's not been great studies to say, oh, yeah, these are really great for brain development. And then in the early 90s, alcohol is a health food.
Chapter 6: How is AI impacting mental health and brain function?
My first clinic is in Northern California. I have 11 clinics. And it was right outside the Napa Valley. And the Napa Valley produces a lot of wine in the United States. I was so excited. You should have a glass or two every night and that's good for your heart. No. It's bad for your brain.
Chapter 7: What societal lies contribute to drug use among youth?
A glass or two of wine is bad for your brain? The American Cancer Society came out four years ago against any alcohol because any alcohol is associated with an increased risk of eight different cancers. And then, you know, we did a prize fight between marijuana and alcohol and it went 12 rounds. Alcohol causes a lot of devastation, perhaps more than marijuana.
But the idea in society is alcohol is a health food. It's a lie. And then... pain is the fifth vital sign. It's you need opiates if you're in pain. Well, that sort of didn't turn out well. No, it didn't. For us. Or benzos. Or mommy's little helper. And that didn't turn out well.
So these are all trends just in the 43 years since you've been practicing psychiatry.
These are all trends that you've lived through. These are all little lies that I see. Not little, huge societal lies. And then... And I'm also a child psychiatrist. And so I would often see 16-year-olds, 17-year-olds, and parents bring them in because I think he has ADD. And I'm like, okay. And as I would scan them, because that's what I do at Amen Clinics, we look at your brain.
The brain looks toxic.
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Chapter 8: How can we promote brain health and prevent addiction?
And it shouldn't look toxic in a 16-year-old. And initially, you ask the child, you know, are you using any drugs? Of course not. And then I'm like, but you have a toxic brain. And then they start crying because I teach them how important their brain is. Your brain is involved in everything you do, how you think, how you feel, how you act, how you get along with other people.
And when this works right, you work right. And when it doesn't, you don't. And it looks toxic.
So you can tell, again, pardon the dumb questions, but you can tell from a brain scan of a 16-year-old whether that child's using drugs.
I can tell whether or not it's toxic, and then I have to find out, well, why is it toxic? And it could be toxic from drug use. It could be toxic because they live in a mold-filled home. It could be toxic because they have Lyme disease, and the infection is causing their brain to look older than they are. But that's all evident in the scan. That's all evident in the scan. It's toxic.
Now it's my job then to figure out why. And so when I see the toxic scan in this ADD 16 year old who did not have ADD or ADHD when he was seven, right? It's not something you just pick up. If you really have ADHD, you had it your whole life. If it just shows up, you either had a head injury, you're doing drugs, or you're living in a mold-filled home. There's a reason why.
And stimulants are not the answer to drug use.
But they often get poor students. More drug use is not the answer?
It's not the answer. And so I'll show the kid their scan and then go through this exercise with them and they'll start to cry. And they go, you won't tell my mom. And I'm like, no, I'm pretty sure we should. Because otherwise, how are you going to get the help you need? And they're like, well, stop, I promise.
And the scans are so helpful for me, a little bit like a lie detector, because it's really hard to say, oh, no, I'm not using when your brain looks toxic and there's not another good reason that it looks toxic. And that's why... Marijuana is innocuous. I'm like, well, you've not been in my chair for the last 43 years.
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