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Cerebrovascular perfusion in marijuana users during a month of monitored abstinence

From the Molecular Neuropsychiatry Branch, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Ronald I. Herning, Molecular Neuropsychiatry Branch, National Institute on Drug Abuse, PO Box 5180, Baltimore, MD 21224; e-mail: rherning{at}intra.nida.nih.gov

Objective: To determine possible effects of prolonged marijuana use on the cerebrovascular system during a month of monitored abstinence and to assess how the intensity of current use might have influenced cerebrovascular perfusion in these marijuana users.

Method: The authors recorded blood flow velocity in the anterior and middle cerebral arteries using transcranial Doppler sonography in three groups of marijuana users who differed in the intensity of recent use (light: n = 11; moderate: n = 23; and heavy: n = 20) and in control subjects (n = 18) to assess the nature and duration of any potential abnormalities. Blood flow velocity was recorded within 3 days of admission and 28 to 30 days of monitored abstinence on an inpatient research unit in order to evaluate subacute effects of the drug and any abstinence-generated changes.

Results: Pulsatility index, a measure of cerebrovascular resistance, and systolic velocity were significantly increased in the marijuana users vs control subjects. These increases persisted in the heavy marijuana users after a month of monitored abstinence.

Conclusions: Chronic marijuana use is associated with increased cerebrovascular resistance through changes mediated, in part, in blood vessels or in the brain parenchyma. These findings might provide a partial explanation for the cognitive deficits observed in a similar group of marijuana users.

Received July 2, 2004. Accepted in final form October 14, 2004.

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