Research about twenty or so years ago suggested that marijuana slowed down the communication between brain cells. It was hypothesized that this was the reason for the slowness in thinking that can follow use of the drug. In fact most, if not all pyschoactive drugs have long lasting detrimental effects on brain function by causing structural changes. For example, in high doses ecstasy is a neurotoxin that destroys brain cells that use serotonin. These serotonin brain cells are the very ones that are also important for anti-depressant drugs to have their beneficial effects. So, if you destroy these cells then the concern is that depression may be a "side effect" of long-term ecstasy use. It is doubly sad because the treatments options will be greatly diminished due to the loss of important brain cells. Legalizing drugs for recreational purposes is really a bad idea imo. I am surprised about the new research on Alzheimer's disease and marijuana though. It is counterintuitive, but I will have to look into it.
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