btw, for those interested in the long term effects of using cannabis, there's a 2016 Nature review article
here. It's now pretty well understood that chronic use results in decreased dopamine activity in parts of the brain, in particular the striatum. It is likely that this results in "amotivational syndrome", aka the stereotypical stoner thing of having no motivation to do anything.
There's then the question of whether this is reversible, which is not entirely known. As the review article put it:
Quote:
A key outstanding question remains “are the effects of THC on the dopamine system reversible, and, if not, at which point do these changes become irreversible?”
The question isn't settled, but it's mostly good news on this front. A
pair of
studies from 2012 found no differences between the dopamine systems of people who had never used cannabis and abstinent chronic users. That comes with the caveat that, as with other negative effects, using it in adolescence is a bad idea. There's also some chance that very long-term use results in long term adaptations.
imo it is safer to take long breaks now and then to allow the brain to return to baseline. We don't really want permanently lowered dopaminergic function.