If you happen to be a regular cannabis user– perhaps not as well it should.
Or so it appears based on findings from a study at the University of Colorado, involving more than a thousand current and former users. A link to the story:
More frequent marijuana use may damage an important memory skill
Apparently cannabis does impair memory, particularly the ‘working’ sort that allows us to retain new information essential for immediate recall and quick decision-making– remembering what you went to the store to buy, for instance, or if it’s safe to make that lane change in traffic.
Working memory is distinct from short-term memory (allows you to recall information after a period when you were distracted), and long-term recall, that odd ability most of us have to remember a phone number from someplace we lived many years in the past.
“Chronic use [of marijuana],” claimed the lead investigator, “seemed to be more important than recent use when it came to problems with working memory…”
The study divided the sample– ages 22 through 36– into recent and lifetime users. Recent use was documented by urine test results, and lifetime users were classified as heavy (a thousand or more times, or a diagnosis of Cannabis Use Disorder); moderate (10-999 times); and virtual nonusers (lifetime use of less than 10 times). Seven different cognitive tests were employed to measure impact on thinking and memory.
As it turned out, that old stereotype of the pothead who can’t recall what you just said? There’s some truth to it.
That led another expert to ask: “Can the adolescent who used cannabis more than 1000 times between the ages of 15 and 20 years of age, but stopped using at 20 years, demonstrate improved working memory 10 years later?”
Good question. Afraid more research will be needed to answer that one.
