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Marijuana Research In Oxford

Friday, 30 September 2016 13:25

Dr. Steven Laviolette and Dr. Justine Renard from the University of Western Ontario, have been investigating the effects of marijuana on teenage brains.

WOODSTOCK - The Oxford Drug Awareness Committee hosted two researchers looking into the effects of pot on the teenage brain.

The researchers, Dr. Steven Laviolette and Dr. Justine Renard from the University of Western Ontario, have been investigating the effects of marijuana on adolescent brains. Dr. Laviolette says they made some concerning discoveries.

"We we've been looking at how exposure to a certain chemical in marijuana called THC, how does it lead to an increased risk for developing Schizophrenia when you reach early adulthood. So we use animal models to examine how the brain changes when it's exposed to chemicals like THC which is found in marijuana. And what we found is that there are remarkable changes in the brain that are very similar to what we see in a patient that has Schizophrenia."

Dr. Laviolette says there is still a lot of work to be done as we move toward legalization.

Jacqueline Deroo with Oxford County Public Health says they wanted to give health care professionals a chance to delve deeper into the issue with this session.

"I kept coming across health care providers and health care service providers who were interested in the grey area of marijuana. So being that it's not legal yet, that our teenagers are using it, and that they wanted more clarifications on how it affects the teenage brain."

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