USA Today: Marijuana may not be lesser evil

[KanMan]

USA Today: Marijuana may not be lesser evil

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

Caution: Marijuana may not be lesser evil

By Rita Rubin
USA TODAY

Online Poll @ USATODAY.com

Your experience

How addictive do you think marijuana is?

I've never tried marijuana.

I've used marijuana but never felt addicted.

I've felt addicted to marijuana.

I've used marijuana, then 'harder' drugs.

 

[gr0wm4g3]

fuck USA Today

 

[GoodbyeBlueSky]

haha ...

60% of their pollees say that it's not addictive though...

a mere 9% say they feel it is addictive...

 

[gdawg]

what some dumbfucks! they didn't even fuckin bring up tobacco. gateway drug, what a fuckin joke. wake up and smoke one

 

[eatlikekings]

uh yeah... i like how they say "besides alcohol...". so why is alcohol getting exempted from this "gateway" subject, when clearly it IS the "gateway" drug. i bet most people got drunk before they got high, like me. and alcohol is a WAY harder drug than marijuana could ever be. man, this subject is just straight retarded

 

[Guest]

yeah, alcohol actually FUCKS me up and my body feels the adverse effects. pot is much easier on the body and it doesnt turn people into obnoxious assholes.

 

[Guest]

I always think it is funny to read that cannabis is a gateway drug. "Most people smoke cannabis first, before going on to harder drugs." Well of course they do! When I was 15 cannabis was easier to get than alcohol, so duh, I smoked weed before I drank alcohol. Weed is the most abundant illegal drug out there, of course it's going to be the first thing people try.

 

[jojajico]

isnt it great how they get one fuck up to say how it messed him up and now its credible to state that weed is addicitve and a negative influence on their life. i dont kno abou the rest of you but i get sooooo much more done once i started smoking. ofcourse if im smoking a strong indica im couchlocked but when it wears off i am really motiveated to do something. kind alike "ok i had my fun now lets get somtehing done". since ive been smoking weed i read more, my house is clean mor eoften, im more out going, im better with money, women, life in general. weed can be a great motivator, it can inspire people to do things that they normally wouldnt do (positive things). draw, paint, write, read, cook, sculpt. in general create. but to everyone who hasnt tried it and to everyone who has tried it but they are fucked to begin with it is the source of all evil. to many worse than hardcore drugs because it makes u lazy and leads to harder drugs which is bull shit. weed hasnt made me want to do meth, or crack. its all about the person. and from my experience and relationships i have found that it often has a positive effect not a negative one.

 

[KanMan]

You make good points that are pretty easy to prove with all the old and new credible studies agreeing with you as well. Then add recorded history with all the well educated even the lesser educated people that are very prosperous successful even though they have been a long term cannabis consumers.

Keith

 

[KanMan]

My comments sent to USA Today

Re: Caution: Marijuana may not be lesser evil
Updated 2/6/2007 7:40 AM ET By Rita Rubin, USA TODAY

Publish one persons experience with a drug and call the drug evil and the writer as credible. Ignore all the credible data easily to find on the Internet including such credible studies as far back as 1944.

See just four very undeniable credible studies The La Guardia Committee Report - 1944, Nixon's Shaffer Commission - 1972, The Le Dain Commission Report - 1972, Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs - 2002

Then add recorded history with all the well educated even the lesser educated thousands of people that are very prosperous successful even though they have been a long term cannabis consumers.

Lets add have some true perspective in the stories you are publishing and calling credible.

 

[killa-bud]

well,if he didnt go to school in the first place,he prob wouldnt have ever smoked bud.

schools the gateway to drugs!!!

 

[PazVerdeRadical]

if we are going on that note, then existence is the gateway to all the shit life has to offer peace

 

[Patsheba]

I personally am addicted to sugar, particularily if it is combined with chocolate in some way. I began drinking green tea a few years ago, and I find I am addicted now. I am addicted to having a car; even for the sake of "humanity" I found I must have one to make money, because our public transportation system is so poor. I'm addicted to several TV shows and I add a prayer for the tbo god regularily. I turn on my computer whenever home, whether I actually get to sit down there or not. Shit the list of my "addictions" is pretty long, now that I begin to list 'em.

I can't think of anyone I know NOT addicted to and/or obsessive compulsive about, something. For some, it is the daily health club visit, plastic surgery, designer items, video games, or even more serious ones, gambling, oxycotin, a certain bar stool everyone knows is theirs ... tweeking ...

There is clearly an addiction epidemic sweeping the earth, and as usual, guess what one culprit is singled out again!

 

[mangled]

whats becoming Really huge now ix Oxys. At least in my area. Basically everyone i grew up with has fallen down the OC path

 

[GOT_BUD?]

Hell, even the poll questions are loaded.

USA Today - FAIL!

 

[Trichome Toker]

No matter which side you take in the debate over whether marijuana is a "gateway" to other illicit drugs, you can't argue with "indisputable data" showing that smoking pot affects neuropsychological functioning, such as hand-eye coordination, reaction time and memory, says H. Westley Clark, director of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Yes, you can't argue with the "indisputable data"!

No one ever "disputed" that data:

Neuropsychological consequences of regular marijuana use: a twin study
M. J. LYONS a1c1, J. L. BAR a1, M. S. PANIZZON a1, R. TOOMEY a1, S. EISEN a1, H. XIAN a1 and M. T. TSUANG a1

a1 Department of Psychology, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA; Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry at the Brockton/West Roxbury VA, USA; Harvard Institute of Psychiatric Epidemiology and Genetics, Boston, MA, USA; Research and Medical Service, St. Louis VA, St. Louis, MO, USA; Division of General Medical Sciences, Department of Medicine, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA; Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts Mental Health Center, Boston, MA, USA; Harvard School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology, Boston, MA, USA

Abstract

Background. Results of previous research examining long-term residual effects of marijuana use on cognition are conflicting. A major methodological limitation of prior studies is the inability to determine whether differences between users and non-users are due to differences in genetic vulnerability preceding drug use or due to the effects of the drug.

Method. Fifty-four monozygotic male twin pairs, discordant for regular marijuana use in which neither twin used any other illicit drug regularly, were recruited from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry. A minimum of 1 year had passed since the marijuana-using twins had last used the drug, and a mean of almost 20 years had passed since the last time marijuana had been used regularly. Twins were administered a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery to assess general intelligence, executive functioning, attention, memory and motor skills. Differences in performance between marijuana-using twins and their non-using co-twins were compared using a multivariate analysis of specific cognitive domains and univariate analyses of individual test scores. Dose–response relationships were explored within the marijuana-using group.

Results. Marijuana-using twins significantly differed from their non-using co-twins on the general intelligence domain; however, within that domain only the performance of the block design subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale – Revised reached a level of statistical significance.

Conclusions. Out of the numerous measures that were administered, only one significant difference was noted between marijuana-using twins and their non-using co-twins on cognitive functioning. The results indicate an absence of marked long-term residual effects of marijuana use on cognitive abilities.

Correspondence:
c1 Dr Michael J. Lyons, Psychology Department, Boston University, 64 Cummington Street, Boston, MA 02215, USA. (Email: [email protected])

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=255433

American Journal on Addictions
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Issue: Volume 14, Number 1 / January–February
Pages: 64 - 72
URL: Linking Options
DOI: 10.1080/10550490590899862

Lack of Hippocampal Volume Change in Long-term Heavy Cannabis Users

Golfo K. Tzilos A1, Christina B. Cintron A1, Jonas B.R. Wood A1, Norah S. Simpson A1, Ashley D. Young A1, Harrison G. Pope A2, Deborah A. Yurgelun-Todd A1

A1 Cognitive Neuroimaging Laboratory, Brain Imaging Center, McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Belmont, Mass
A2 Cognitive Neuroimaging Laboratory, Brain Imaging Center, and the Biological Psychiatry Laboratory, McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Belmont, Mass

Abstract:

The effects of cannabis smoking on the morphology of the hippocampus are still unclear, especially because previous human studies have examined primarily younger, shorter-term users. We used magnetic resonance imaging to investigate these effects in a group of 22 older, long-term cannabis users (reporting a mean [SD] of 20,100 [13,900] lifetime episodes of smoking) and 26 comparison subjects with no history of cannabis abuse or dependence. When compared to control subjects, smokers displayed no significant adjusted differences in volumes of gray matter, white matter, cerebrospinal fluid, or left and right hippocampus. Moreover, hippocampal volume in cannabis users was not associated with age of onset of use nor total lifetime episodes of use. These findings are consistent with recent literature suggesting that cannabis use is not associated with structural changes within the brain as a whole or the hippocampus in particular.

http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.c...al,12,42;linkingpublicationresults,1:102425,1

Of course who needs unbiased studies from researches, when you can take the word of a drug treatment industry shill.

Amazing research USA Today!

Heavy Marijuana Use Doesn't Damage Brain

Analysis of Studies Finds Little Effect From Long-Term Use
By Sid Kirchheimer
WebMD Medical News Reviewed By Michael Smith, MD
on Tuesday, July 01, 2003

July 1, 2003 -- Long-term and even daily marijuana use doesn't appear to cause permanent brain damage, adding to evidence that it can be a safe and effective treatment for a wide range of diseases, say researchers.

The researchers found only a "very small" impairment in memory and learning among long-term marijuana users. Otherwise, scores on thinking tests were similar to those who don't smoke marijuana, according to a new analysis of 15 previous studies.

In those studies, some 700 regular marijuana users were compared with 484 non-users on various aspects of brain function -- including reaction time, language and motor skills, reasoning ability, memory, and the ability to learn new information.

Surprising Finding

"We were somewhat surprised by our finding, especially since there's been a controversy for some years on whether long-term cannabis use causes brain damage," says lead researcher and psychiatrist Igor Grant, MD.

"I suppose we expected to see some differences in people who were heavy users, but in fact the differences were very minimal."

The marijuana users in those 15 studies -- which lasted between three months to more than 13 years -- had smoked marijuana several times a week or month or daily. Still, researchers say impairments were less than what is typically found from using alcohol or other drugs.

"All study participants were adults," says Grant, professor of psychiatry and director of the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research Center at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.

"However, there might be a different set of circumstances to a 12-year-old whose nervous system is still developing."

10 States OK Marijuana Use

Grant's analysis, published in the July issue of the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, comes as many states consider laws allowing marijuana to be used to treat certain medical conditions. Earlier this year, Maryland became the 10th state to allow marijuana use to relieve pain and other symptoms of AIDS, multiple sclerosis, cancer, glaucoma, and other conditions -- joining Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.

Medicinal marijuana is available by prescription in the Netherlands and a new marijuana drug is expected to be released in Great Britain later this year. In the U.S. and elsewhere, Marinol, a drug that is a synthetic form of marijuana and contains its active ingredient, THC, is available by prescription to treat loss of appetite associated with weight loss in AIDS patients.

Grant says he did the analysis to help determine long-term toxicity from long-term and frequent marijuana use. His center is currently conducting 11 studies to determine its safety and efficacy in treating several diseases.

"This finding enables us to see a marginal level of safety, if those studies prove that cannabis can be effective," Grant tells WebMD. "If we barely find this effect in long-term heavy users, then we are unlikely to see deleterious side effects in individuals who receive cannabis for a short time in a medical setting, which would be safer than what is practiced by street users."

Grant's findings come as no surprise to Tod Mikuriya, MD, former director of non-classified marijuana research for the National Institute of Mental Health Center for Narcotics and Drug Abuse Studies and author of The Marijuana Medical Handbook: A Guide to Therapeutic Use. He is currently president of the California Cannabis Medical Group, which has treated some 20,000 patients with medicinal marijuana and Marinol.

'Highly Effective Medicine'

"I just re-published a paper of the first survey for marijuana toxicity done in 1863 by the British government in India that was the most exhaustive medical study of its time in regards to possible difficulties and toxicity of cannabis. And it reached the same conclusion as Grant," Mikuriya tells WebMD.

"This is merely confirming what was known over 100 years ago, as well as what was learned by various government findings doing similar research -- marijuana is not toxic, but it is a highly effective medicine."

In fact, marijuana was available as a medicinal treatment in the U.S. until the 1930s.

Lester Grinspoon, MD, a retired Harvard Medical School psychiatrist who studied medicinal marijuana use since the 1960s and wrote two books on the topic, says that while Grant's finding provides more evidence on its safety, "it's nothing that those of us who have been studying this haven't known for a very long time.

"Marijuana is a remarkably safe and non-toxic drug that can effectively treat about 30 different conditions," he tells WebMD. "I predict it will become the aspirin of the 21st century, as more people recognize this."

SOURCES: The Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, July 2003. Igor Grant, MD, professor of psychiatry, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine; director, UCSD Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research Center. Tod Mikuriya, MD, president, the California Cannabis Research Medical Group, Oakland; former director of non-classified marijuana research, the National Institute of Mental Health Center for Narcotics and Drug Abuse Studies. Lester Grinspoon, MD, professor emeritus of psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston; author, Marijuana: The Forbidden Medicine and Marihuana Reconsidered.

http://www.webmd.com/content/article/70/80972.htm

 

[Trichome Toker]

Brain damage risks
e-mail story | print story
AMA report on alcohol's adverse effects on the brains of children, adolescents and college students

What is the summary report?
Harmful Consequences of Alcohol Use on the Brains of Children, Adolescents, and College Students (PDF, 69KB) is a compilation and summary of two decades of comprehensive research on how alcohol affects the brains of youth. The report's aggregation of extensive scientific and medical information reveals just how harmful drinking is to the developing brain and serves as a wakeup call to parents, physicians, elected officials, law enforcement, purveyors of alcohol – including the alcohol industry – and young drinkers themselves.

Why is this report important?
The average age of a child's first drink is now 12, and nearly 20 percent of 12 to 20 year-olds are considered binge drinkers. While many believe that underage drinking is an inevitable "rite of passage" that adolescents can easily recover from because their bodies are more resilient, the opposite is true.

The adolescent brain
The brain goes through dynamic change during adolescence, and alcohol can seriously damage long- and short-term growth processes. Frontal lobe development and the refinement of pathways and connections continue until age 16, and a high rate of energy is used as the brain matures until age 20. Damage from alcohol at this time can be long-term and irreversible. In addition, short-term or moderate drinking impairs learning and memory far more in youth than adults. Adolescents need only drink half as much to suffer the same negative effects.

Drinkers vs. non-drinkers: research findings

* Adolescent drinkers scored worse than non-users on vocabulary, general information, memory, memory retrieval and at least three other tests
* Verbal and nonverbal information recall was most heavily affected, with a 10 percent performance decrease in alcohol users
* Significant neuropsychological deficits exist in early to middle adolescents (ages 15 and 16) with histories of extensive alcohol use
* Adolescent drinkers perform worse in school, are more likely to fall behind and have an increased risk of social problems, depression, suicidal thoughts and violence
* Alcohol affects the sleep cycle, resulting in impaired learning and memory as well as disrupted release of hormones necessary for growth and maturation
* Alcohol use increases risk of stroke among young drinkers

Adverse effects of alcohol on the brain: research findings
Youth who drink can have a significant reduction in learning and memory, and teen alcohol users are most susceptible to damaging two key brain areas that are undergoing dramatic changes in adolescence:

* The hippocampus handles many types of memory and learning and suffers from the worst alcohol-related brain damage in teens. Those who had been drinking more and for longer had significantly smaller hippocampi (10 percent).
* The prefrontal area (behind the forehead) undergoes the most change during adolescence. Researchers found that adolescent drinking could cause severe changes in this area and others, which play an important role in forming adult personality and behavior and is often called the CEO of the brain.

Lasting implications
Compared to students who drink moderately or not at all, frequent drinkers may never be able to catch up in adulthood, since alcohol inhibits systems crucial for storing new information as long-term memories and makes it difficult to immediately remember what was just learned.

Additionally, those who binge once a week or increase their drinking from age 18 to 24 may have problems attaining the goals of young adulthood—marriage, educational attainment, employment, and financial independence. And rather than "outgrowing" alcohol use, young abusers are significantly more likely to have drinking problems as adults.

What can be done to stop this epidemic?
The AMA advocates numerous ways to combat this growing epidemic, including:

* Reducing access to alcohol for children and youth
* Reducing sales and provision of alcohol to children and youth
* Increasing enforcement of underage drinking laws
* Providing more education about the harmful effects of alcohol abuse
* Reducing the demand for alcohol and the normalization of alcohol use by children and youth

A major source of the normalization of alcohol use by children and youth is alcohol advertising. Television networks and cable stations have profited tremendously from the alcohol industry's aggressive marketing to underage drinkers. These ads are proven to heavily influence the normalization and glamorization of drinking in the minds of children, and television has continued to endanger the health of these young viewers in spite of such findings.

With these new findings of the adverse effects of alcohol on the brain of children and adolescents, the AMA calls on cable TV and the TV networks to pledge not to run alcohol ads targeted at underage youth. This means no alcohol ads before 10 p.m., none on shows with 15 percent or more underage viewers and no commercials with cartoons, mascots or other youth-focused images.

What can I do?
Please visit our Web site to learn 10 things you can do to combat underage drinking as well as to send an e-mail or a fax to the TV networks and cable TV about your concerns about advertising alcohol to youth.
Last updated: Feb 02, 2007
Content provided by: Alcohol & Drug Abuse

http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/9416.html

Sure, Cannabis is not safer than alcohol at all, they are both equally damaging...

 

[ogrefugee]

heh, poll results:

61% " I've used marijuana but never felt addicted"

i'd love to see that on the front page in some fancy pie chart

 

[captredeye]

its odd how they threw in "harder drugs" when they are talking about marijuana....


they want it to still be preceived as a gateway...

LAME!

 

[IdntknowMarlbro]

sugar was my "gateway drug"