Will long-time or life-time consuming CBD / THC impact the front lobe or re-wire the brain with irrevocable damage?
This is a very reasonable question, and one I get (and think about) all the time, particularly when we’re talking about children whose brains are still developing.
The simple/short answer is that I would not characterize the evidence as showing that appropriately used CBD or THC inevitably “rewires” the frontal lobe or causes permanent, irreversible brain damage. That is much stronger than what the science actually demonstrates.
There is, however, an important distinction that seems worth making between CBD and THC.
THC directly affects CB1 receptors, which are involved in brain development as well as memory, attention, learning, and executive function. Studies of adolescents who use cannabis frequently, particularly higher-THC products and at younger ages, have found associations with differences in cognition and in the structure or function of developing brain networks. Those findings deserve to be taken seriously. At the same time, much of this research is observational, which makes it difficult to separate the effects of THC itself from dose, frequency, underlying medical or psychiatric conditions, other substance use, and many other variables. But, the evidence also does not establish that these changes represent inevitable or irreversible injury. In fact, some cognitive differences improve after cannabis is stopped. (PubMed)
CBD is quite different. It is not altering the way THC is, and does not affect cognition in the same way THC does. Human studies to date generallyhaven’t demonstrated the kinds of acute cognitive impairment associated with THC. But here too, I want to be careful with the language: we simply do not have studies following children taking CBD continuously for 30, 40, or 60 years. So I cannot honestly tell you that lifetime use has been proven completely risk-free. That study has essentially never been done. (PubMed)
This is also why I don’t think about cannabinoid treatment as simply deciding whether something is “safe” or “unsafe.” I think about dose, age, THC exposure, frequency, what symptoms we’re trying to improve, what benefit we’re actually seeing, and whether that benefit continues to justify the exposure.
