Weed smokers are usually characterised as bumbling paranoiacs incapable of remembering anything useful.

But it turns out cannabis could actually boost the memories of older people and make their brain ‘younger’.

A scientific study has found that feeding ganja to ageing mice boosted their brain power significantly.

Researchers from the University of Bonn pumped THC, the chemical in weed which gets you stoned, into rodents of a certain age to find that a ‘chronic low dose restores cognitive function in old mice’.

Can weed keep your brain young? Study reveals 'staggering' benefits of cannabis
Caption: Close-Up Of Marijuana
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What this means is that the mice were given a little bit of weed every day and it resulted in older animals performing as well in tests as younger competitors.

‘We treated old mice with a low dose of the active ingredient in cannabis,’ Andreas Zimmer, a professor at the Institute of Molecular Psychiatry, told Deutsche Welle.

People sunbathe on Bournemouth beach in Dorset. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday June 26, 2018. Photo credit should read: Andrew Matthews/PA WireHeatwave now poses a risk to people's lives with no end in sight to hot weather

‘Learning and memory functions improved dramatically in these animals, and they performed as well as mice that were much, much younger.

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‘What we observed was quite staggering.’

South African Gerd Bader, affected by Multiple Sclerosis and who manufactures concentrated cannabis oil, shows his marijuana plants from which he produces oil at his home on July 18, 2017 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The ban on using the drug cannabis is being challenged in the High Court, raising the possibility that it could effectively be decriminalised and so also be used for medical purposes. At the moment, possessing, growing or using marijuana -- even in small quantities -- can lead to jail time, a fine and a criminal record. However a court in the Western Cape region ruled in March that a ban on cannabis use by adults at home was unconstitutional, effectively decriminalising it in the province that includes Cape Town. / AFP PHOTO / MUJAHID SAFODIEN (Photo credit should read MUJAHID SAFODIEN/AFP/Getty Images)

To test their brain power, mice were tasked with finding a hidden platform. Normally, older mice would take longer to find the platform and remember where it was.

But the stoned old rodents were able to perform just as well as the youthful whippersnappers.

However, be warned: scientists believe weed has the opposite effect on young humans.

Zimmer said blazing herbs makes young humans’ memory worse, although they can combat the effect by giving up weed.

MORE: People are ‘scromiting’ after smoking too much cannabis

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