How Smoking Weed Changes Your Brain

Compared to other illicit drugs, weed seems relatively safe. It can be purchased legally in 29 states and has far fewer negative healtheffects than alcohol. But a new study suggests that long term weed smoking can cause enduring cellular changes in your brain. By inhibiting GABA receptors from doing their job, chronic weed use can create a dependency that is more commonly seen in damaging drugs like crystal meth or cocaine. Another study from 2014 observed that daily smokers had less grey matter in their orbital-frontal cortex, the part of the brain that deals with decision making. This could also help explain how Taco Bell still sells 1 billion burritos per year.