Impact smoking cannabis has on your brain as new side effect discovered in groundbreaking study

Your brain is taking quite the beating if you blow trees, health experts have warned.

And considering the brain is one of the most important organs that humans have in their bodies, this is obviously quite a big deal.

Although you might think that your weed habit isn't doing you any harm, it has a long-term impact on your brain - and a recent study has revealed it might be messing with your memory.

Research conducted by boffins at Washington State University found that smoking cannabis can distort a person's recollection of events.

Experts found that 70 percent of the 120 participants suffered from some level of memory impairment after consuming THC.

A lot of people even had false memories - meaning they recalled events or details that didn't actually happen, as their brains filled in the gaps with thoughts they had invented themselves.

Smoking weed leaves a lasting impact on your brain, scientists say (Getty Stock Image)

Associate professor Carrie Cuttler, who is a co-author of the 2026 study, told National Geographic: "You are activating certain pathways to create a memory and to recall something, you are trying to reactivate that same pathway.

"If you blast the system with THC, the THC hijacks the system," she said, although she did add that weed smokers can have a 'complete rebound' if they cut out cannabis for a month.

"Acute alcohol intoxication is generally more disruptive to memory than cannabis," Cuttler said. "If a person abstains from cannabis for a month, we expect a complete rebound."

As those who are partial to a bit of the wacky baccy will know, marijuana has both psychological and physical effects which can begin to take hold as soon as you spark up.

According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in the short-term, has an 'immediate impact on thinking, attention, memory, coordination, movement, and time perception'.

Cannabis users can often experience lapses in memory (Getty Stock Image)

Looking further down the line, the effects of getting high have a more prominent impact.

Cannabis 'affects brain development', the CDC says, so children and teenagers are 'especially susceptible to the harmful effects of cannabis and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)'.

"Although scientists are still learning about the effects of cannabis on developing brains, studies suggest that cannabis use by mothers during pregnancy could be linked to problems with attention, memory, problem-solving skills, and behaviour in their children," it states.

"Using cannabis before age 18 may affect how the brain builds connections for functions like attention, memory, and learning.

Weed is a Class B drug in the UK (Getty Stock Image)

"Cannabis' effects on attention, memory, and learning may last a long time or even be permanent, but more research is needed to fully understand these effects," it continued.

"Youth who use cannabis may not do as well in school and may have trouble remembering things."

Essentially, you might pay the price for puffing on a joint with your memory.

The impact will vary from person to person and depends on a few other factors too, as the CDC explains.

This includes the amount of THC in the cannabis you have consumed, which dictates the strength of it, as well as how old you were when you first began using.