Cannabis and Cognition: Not the Brain Drain You’ve Been Warned About

A 44-Year Study Flips the Script on Cannabis and Mental Decline—Could THC Actually Spare Your Smarts?

Peeling Back the Myths of Cannabis and Cognition

For decades, cannabis has been painted as the ultimate villain in the story of cognitive decline. Remember Nancy Reagan’s ominous warnings about frying your brain? Entire generations grew up believing that a single puff of cannabis could tank your IQ and leave your memory in tatters. This narrative, baked into societal stigmas and amplified by cherry-picked alarmist studies, still lingers today—just look at some of this week’s headlines.

But now, as cannabis steps out of the shadows of prohibition and into the medicinal spotlight, science is finally catching up to reevaluate these long-held assumptions. Enter a groundbreaking longitudinal study spanning 44 years and over 5,000 Danish men. Titled “Cannabis Use and Age-Related Changes in Cognitive Function From Early Adulthood to Late Midlife in 5162 Danish Men,” this study could rewrite the script entirely.

And this isn’t your a…