Study: cannabis less harmful to the brain than alcohol

Alcohol may be more harmful to the brain than cannabis, according to a new study published in the medical journal Addiction.

Researchers in psychology and neuroscience at the University of Colorado-Boulder examined 850 adults and 430 adolescents and concluded that alcohol, but not cannabis, led to a decrease in the brain's gray and white substances.

Grey matter« controls brain function, while »white matter« is responsible for communication within the nervous system.

A reduction in these two brain substances can lead to impaired brain function, but this was not observed in people who only consumed cannabis.

«While cannabis can also with negative consequences, it is certainly nowhere near the negative consequences of alcohol,» writes study co-author Kent Hutchinson in the Medical News Today.

However, study author Rachel Thayer warns that how cannabis affects the brain is still poorly understood, unlike the action of alcohol. The authors also note that publications on the effect of cannabis on the brain often contradict each other.

«When you look at these studies years back, you see that one study reports that cannabis use is linked to a reduction in the volume of the hippocampus [a region associated with memory and emotion]... The next study comes along, and says that cannabis use is linked to changes in the cerebellum or whatever,» explains Hutchinson.

Another recent study shows that cannabis consumption in parallel with alcohol consumption reduces the risk of liver disease.