Analyze the possible neurological toxicity in Cannabis addicts.

We make a complete study to 20 cannabis addicts with consists in Exhaustive Clinical and Psychiatric Register, Meal and Toxic Habits Inquiry, Complete Blood Analysis with Adrenaline, Noradrenaline and Amino acids, Visual, Somestesic and Auditory Evoked Potentials and Brain Mapping. Eighteen were males between 17-26 years old. Media of age 19,5. Pursuit 4- 16 months.

Clinical Features, five patients of the study had symptoms like blurred vision, lost of visual sharpness, distal paresthesias or disesthesias. High percent of poor educational background, no university studies. Meal Habits, no equilibrated diets, no fruits, no vegetables nor salads. Toxics, Tobacco - Alcohol, 90 % and 85% respectively, age of starting 14 and 15 years old, time of consume by media 6 and 4,5 years. Cannabis, age of starting 15 years old, time of consume by media 4 years , 16/20 each day, in 9 of the 20 persons more than three "joints" a day. Other drugs, usual in 13/20. Three different types of drugs in 8/20. Visual Evoked Potentials, none of them had normal values, 80% with bilateral affectation in amplitude or latency. Somestic Evoked Potentials, were normally in 2,90% with bilateral affectation in amplitude or latency, but 13/20 had normal latencies. So, 90% of them had alterations in both kind of Potentials. Auditory Evoked Potentials, only two of the subject had a pathology, it seems that in this type of potentials were more resistant. Brain Mapping, 16/20 (80%) had abnormal slowed activity, 11 of them (55%) had Deltha Hipersignal Bifrontal generalized, three of them in left hemisphere and two of them in right hemisphere. Amino acids, nine of the ten essential amino acids showed low scores.



Case nº1 - 20 years old. Five years Cannabis daily. Delta generalized, more Bifrontal.

Case nº2 - 22 years old. Seven years Cannabis daily. Delta generalized, more Bifrontal, Theta in left hemisphere.

Case nº3 - 19 years old. Four years Cannabis daily. Delta generalized, more left Frontal.

Case nº4 - The same case. Six months later without Cannabis. The bioelectrical slowness is diminished.

1º) Chronic consume of Cannabis damages optic nerves, posterior cordons of the medulla and increases bio-electrical slowness, which is indicative of bad functioning and brain impairment.
2º) This neurological damage, improves in some cases, after giving up habits.
3º) It is remarkable the high percent of poor educational background caused by intellectual block despite slight neurological symptoms.
4º) It exits positive correlation between the neurological impairment and the frequency and length of time in the use of drugs.
5º) This kind of patients have a tendency to be precocious in Neurological Damage and Dementia.