The most recent study on marijuana has linked smoking marijuana in adolescence to a long-term drop in IQ. Marijuana, the innocent “natural” drug is often falsely viewed as being relatively harmless, and it’s sometimes even assumed to be a rite of passage in adolescence. Working in recovery, and being surrounded by recovery professionals, I can tell you the idea of harmlessness has been refuted time and time again. While the effects aren’t as overtly detrimental as amphetamine use or synthetic pot, there remains a definitive and negative effect on the developing brain in pot smokers, particularly when they start in …

I was interested to discover a new study on the global effects methamphetamine has on the body. Rather than merely studying the effects the drug has on the brain, these scientists went further and began tracking the molecular changes that occur in the body as a whole. Using fruit flies as his medium, University of Illinois entomology professor Barry Pittendrigh guided  his scientific team of researchers down this new path of discovery.  Their findings are remarkable. Science has already shown us how methamphetamine causes significant brain inflammation while also creating  damage similar to dementia. We are familiar with the dopamine …

Mixing alcohol and energy drinks continues to bedevil scientists and clinical professionals, while continuing to intrigue and seduce young revelers, creating an illusion of false security. As I’ve said in the past, mixing the two just makes for a wide-awake drunk. It doesn’t actually make your intoxication less viable nor does it lesson its behavioral impact. If anything, it makes things more dangerous and encourages reckless behavior. With the additional stimulation (remember, alcohol initially presents as a stimulant), one can’t accurately intuit how drunk they actually are. And when you add caffeine to the mix, your body misses the cue …