A new film..., The Purple Brain, makes absurd and unsubstantiated claims of (pot) "brain damage."

[marmar]

From AlterNet:



The Purple Brain: America's New Reefer Madness

By Marsha Rosenbaum and Paul Armentano, AlterNet. Posted June 23, 2007.



A new film designed to frighten Americans about pot, The Purple Brain, makes absurd and unsubstantiated claims of "brain damage."

More than 70 years in the making, the long-awaited sequel to the notorious 1936 film, Reefer Madness has arrived. It's called The Purple Brain, and just like its unintentionally campy predecessor, its purpose is to frighten Americans about marijuana.

The particular target audience for the Feds' new production is the millions of parents who may have, without incident, experimented with marijuana in the 1970s, when they were about the same age as their children are today.

The plot is as follows: Sure, the pot you and your 40-something peers once enjoyed may have been innocuous, but that's only because it bears no resemblance to the super-potent weed of today-- strains with such foreboding names as "Train wreck," "AK-47," and "The Purple." As proclaimed by Drug Czar John Walters recently, "e are no longer talking about the drug of the 1960s and 1970s -- this is Pot 2.0."

To top off this frightening message, unsubstantiated claims of "brain damage" resulting from the use of this super-pot are new buzzwords in today's Prevention circles.

If ever there was an attention-getting script for scaring the hell out of parents, this is it.

Fortunately, while the headlines are grabbing, the story lacks credibility.

Growers in the business of selling marijuana have always attached pet names to selected strains of pot. In the 1970s, popular varieties included "Acapulco Gold" and "Maui Wowie." Today, as in the past, most of these labels are little more than clever marketing gimmicks devised by producers and sellers to distinguish their particular product in a highly competitive marketplace.

While a handful of potent strains may be available in limited quantities today, these varieties compose only a minute percentage of the overall marketplace -- at a price tag that is cost-prohibitive to anyone but the most wealthy of aficionados. For others, marijuana remains essentially the same plant it has always been, with its relatively mild rise in average potency akin to the difference between beer and wine.

Unlike alcohol -- or even aspirin, -- today's marijuana still poses no risk of fatal overdose, regardless of the strength of its primary psychoactive ingredient, THC. Moreover, cannabis consumers readily distinguish between low and high potency marijuana and moderate their use accordingly. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/54977/

[roseBudd]

1. reality, some of today's weed is 1 hit, virtually instantaneous effect means that unlike alcohol...

users know whether or not they need a 2nd hit

Alcohol in contrast by the time the effect is felt the user has already ingested too much

1 hit weed costs so much, people will 1 & 2 hit it

[Viva_La_Revolution]

2. Blueberry.... yum

I took 3 hits last night... and immediately had to lie down.

[patrice]

3. Alcohol affects those parts of the brain that are associated with

the ability to make judgements, so you're right, one drink and your ability to judge whether you should have more or not is handicapped, more drinks, more handicap - and THIS is the Politically Correct drug, the Fashionable way to have have fun according to the TV. BTW, in my experience, Alcohol is a Way of Life in the Military.

I've seen this up close and personal in my family too, everything is complicated by the fact that once any kind of judgement/decision is made and acted upon, there is a strong tendency to validate it, error or not, sober or not, by means of other decisions and behaviors, in order to defend against the life-threatening implications of impaired judgement.

[CrispyQ]

4. I'm waiting for Pot 5.0.

:smoke:

[notadmblnd]

5. Someone was just telling me about this "purple" stuff last night

at 300.00 an ounce. I declined to make a purchase, but now I might have to check it out, just so I know what my teenager might be getting into.:shrug: