Let's think long and hard about the legalization of marijuana

[vincenzoesq]

It is wishful thinking to say that marijuana is harmless, and there is no longer any doubt that the long term effects on the brain and vital organs are long term. In fact, a respected addictions therapist holds that marijuana is the most devastating drug of all, because by the times the symptoms present, the damage has been done. Many want to dismiss the harmful effects, because they tried it in their youth. Your parents' pot was a very different weed. Today's is seven times more potent. Check the NIDA website, as well as those below.



http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/129/5/1096
http://www.auntminnie.com/index.asp?sec=ser&sub=def&pag=dis&ItemID=84473
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T3M-4T0NT8S-8W&_user=10&_coverDate=09%2F30%2F2008&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1310105938&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=d4c422712cfb1e8f25fe82a305ab2e45
http://www.empoweredhospital.com/marijuana-brain-study

http://www.uc.edu/News/NR.aspx?ID=9011


The following is from an Australian study:
People who use marijuana for a long time can develop abnormalities in their brains, Australian researchers report.
Although growing literature suggests long-term marijuana use is associated with a wide range of adverse health consequences, many people believe it is relatively harmless and should be legalised, the researchers noted. "However, this study shows long-term, heavy cannabis use causes significant brain injury, memory loss, difficulties learning new information and psychotic symptoms, such as delusions of persecution , delusions of mind-reading, and bizarre social behaviours in even non-vulnerable users," said lead researcher Murat Yucel, from the ORYGEN Research Centre and the Neuropsychiatry Centre at the University of Melbourne.
This new evidence plays an important role in further understanding the effects of marijuana and its impact on brain functioning, Yucel said. "The study is the first to show that long-term cannabis use can adversely affect all users, not just those in the high-risk categories such as the young, or those susceptible to mental illness, as previously thought," he said. The report was published in the June issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.
In the study, Yucel's team did high-resolution MRIs on 15 men who smoked more than five joints a day for more than 10 years. They compared those with scans of 16 men who did not use marijuana. In addition, all the men took verbal memory tests and were examined for symptoms of psychiatric disorders. "The more marijuana used, the more these individuals were likely to show reduced brain volumes in the hippocampus and amygdala, as well as being more likely to develop symptoms of psychotic disorders and to have significant memory impairment," Yucel said.
In fact, the hippocampus of marijuana users was 12% smaller, and the amygdala was 7.1% smaller than among non-users. In addition, men who used marijuana also had symptoms of psychiatric disorders, Yucel's group found. The hippocampus is associated with the regulation of emotion and memory, while the amygdala controls fear and aggression.
"There is ongoing controversy concerning the long-term effects of cannabis on the brain," Yucel said. "These findings challenge the widespread perception of cannabis as having limited or no harmful effects on brain and behaviour. Although modest use may not lead to significant neurotoxic effects, these results suggest that heavy daily use might indeed be toxic to human brain tissue."
One expert agrees that heavy marijuana use can have negative effects on the brain.
"These findings are not surprising," said Dr Adam Bisaga, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Columbia University and an addiction psychiatrist at New York State Psychiatric Institute. "Chronic use of large amounts of any substance that is affecting neural transmission will most likely invoke adaptive changes and lead to the reorganisation of neural networks, and possibly affect brain structures."
"Heavy users of marijuana probably represent only a very small proportion of users," Bisaga said. "It is not clear if any clinically significant changes can be seen in recreational, infrequent marijuana users, who were not studied here. These findings suggest that public health education, as well as screening, early recognition, and treatment of cannabis dependence, may prevent the progression of the disease and the loss of brain function and related psychiatric complications."

[Lint Head]

1. The long term effects of living and breathing is eventually death.

Legalize it now!

[NaturalHigh]

99. Eat healthy, exercise, don't drink, don't smoke...

die anyway.

[Kalun D]

132. Agree

Life leads to death

how about, life causes cancer, death cures it.

LOLZ!!

[Mojeoux]

180. 3537 reads, 180 comments and not 1 recommendation.

hmmmmmmmmm

[rfranklin]

2. It is a drug, it has side effects, but the prohibition has worse effects...

and it is about time to end the useless War on Drugs.

[roody]

21. It is not a drug. It is a plant.

[miscsoc]

166. it's an herb maaaan

nt

[shedevil69taz]

182. It is indeed a drug

drug (drug)
1. a chemical substance that affects the processes of the mind or body.
2. any chemical compound used in the diagnosis, treatment, or prevention of disease or other abnormal condition.
3. a substance used recreationally for its effects on the central nervous system, such as a narcotic.
4. to administer a drug to.

Well at least the THC in the plant itself is.

[ZombieHorde]

3. Don't like, don't smoke it. No reason lock up people in prison for smoking it.

Locking people up for unhealthy habits is ridiculous.

[RKP5637]

6. +1, n/t

[madmax]

175. +2

[baldguy]

4. Then ban alcohol, tobacco, caffine, sugar & salt for the same reasons.

Responsible adults can partake of all these substances in a responsible manner. They should be allowed to do so.

[icymist]

130. The human body has to have a requirement of salt to live.

Now too much salt, that's different.

[miscsoc]

165. ok not salt but you get the point

nt

[NanceGreggs]

5. Could you run that by me again, dude?

I'm a bit stoned - probably didn't get it the first time around.

:smoke:

[kentuck]

11. I have studied this subject on a very personal level since 1967..

and will probably study it a bit further shortly. Would I be considered an "expert"? :-)

[NanceGreggs]

15. In the groove since '66 myself ...

Happy to meet a fellow expert on the topic!

:fistbump:

[roody]

23. In the groove since '73 myself.

I am an expert and am about to do a bit more research.

[NanceGreggs]

33. Research ...

... that's what it's all about.

Can't have enough of that - can't really understand what it's all about if you don't do research on a regular basis.

I'm about to research the effects of cannabis on my brain as I watch "Crazy Heart".

I have a feelin' Jeff Bridges is going to be fantastic - and the popcorn is going to be delish!

[Tiggeroshii]

135. "Research"

...that's what the kids are calling it these days? Now when people ask me where I was all day, I know what to tell them.

"'researching' pot"

:rofl:

:yourock:

[piratefish08]

147. since '79 for me. I guess that makes me an undergrad compared to your

advanced studies.....

:fistbump:

[kentuck]

32. You probably listened to Jefferson Airplane...

or those bands in the San Francisco area? Or maybe Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band?

Or you may have taken the Sounds of Silence route.

Some of us followed Cream down the road to enlightenment. But we all made it to where we are today.

I was the most innocent young fellow you could imagine from the hills of Appalachia and, one day, I found myself dropped off on the outskirts of a small village in South Vietnam with a couple of other GI's that had been in country for awhile. We were supposed to lay concertina wire around the perimeter and the old Army truck would pick us up later in the evening. It was strange enough as a perfectly straight soldier. It was even more strange when they lit up a joint which I first refused. Then they started laughing almost uncontrollably. I couldn't refuse.

:hippie:

[NanceGreggs]

37. Definitely into Airplane ...

... as well as Simon & Garfunkle - together, or sold separately.

Cream - ah, yes, Cream!

Thank you for your service, Kentuck - stoned or straight. Thank you.

[kentuck]

Naw. Nobody has to thank me.

It was part of my life's plan. :-)

White Rabbit.

Go ask Alice.

[Webster Green]

34. '66 for me too!

First-wave hippie and proud of it.

Gee Nance, too bad the reefer left you unable to think or write clearly. :rofl:

[NanceGreggs]

40. Yeah, I hear ya ...

Successful career, two well-adjusted and FABULOUS kids, paid-off mortgage and money in the bank.

When I think of what I could have achieved, if only the demon weed hadn't taken hold of my life ...

:rofl:

[EOTE]

103. Yeah, just think about what you could have done with a normal sized amygdala.

I managed to beat the odds, my amygdala is huge in spite of my frequent toking. My most frequently used pickup lines all centered around my prodigious amygdala, the chicks dig it.

[kentuck]

42. First-wave hippie.

Indeed.

Too bad that stuff messed up Nance's head. I bet she would have been a brilliant writer if she had not indulged?

:sarcasm:

[madrchsod]

54. no.....maybe that`s her secret......

she`s higher than a kite....

[Mopar151]

146. There's a lounge thread! Higher than:

Taxes! A Georgia pine. Trump's hair.
Your turn.

[Subdivisions]

41. Oh man do I have some freshly cured stuff I'd like to share with you! n/t

[NanceGreggs]

43. Same here!

Could we meet in, let's say, Iowa as the mid-way point?

Outside the donut shop - where else?

[Subdivisions]

50. The Donut Shop it is! n/t

[G_j]

47. a facinating study indeed,

'66 or '67 for me

[Blue_In_AK]

76. Another expert here.

I've been running self experiments since 1967 myself, and I see no harm. Everybody should just grow their own, with their vegetables.

[BolivarianHero]

183. Was going to go to my hometown to green it up with friends...

But I think I'll spend the weekend in Ottawa downing coolers and watching my Penguins give it to the Habnots.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[havocmom]

8. Would rather deal with stoners than drunks

And pot has some seriously helpful uses.

Prohibition has some seriously damaging side effects.

All in all, pot is safer.

Water and acetaminophen kills.

[canetoad]

9. I'm an outstanding example

of superior mental health and anyone who says different is just out to get me.

[LooseWilly]

141. Heh...

excellent well said... ironytoad... ;)

[Shell Beau]

10. Let's compare those studies to all the studies done on brains

of ALL the legalized drugs out there. Furthermore, we have overcrowded jails and prisons because of marijauna. Let's make more room for the violent criminals. Btw, marijuana is about the only "drug" out there that I'd like to see legalized.

[notadmblnd]

12. Cannabis is not addictive.

[Shell Beau]

16. It isn't, but I will say that during my younger years (lol since I'm only 31)

when I quit, I had many sleepless sweaty nights. I attributed it to getting it out of my system. My friends have said the same. But nothing like being addicted to smoking or alcohol, but I think my body was used to it and was pissed at me for quitting.

[notadmblnd]

84. well I'm 51

and have stopped for long periods of time (over the years) with no apparent problems. And as a bonus, I think it actually helps with my menopause. Been going through it for about 3 years now. I have hot flashes but they have become infrequent and only last moments. I'm not as cranky/bitchy (and believe me I go from perfectly happy, top totally enraged in no time) because things just don't bother me as much when I relax with a joint, and I still like/want to have sex.

It's been my observation over the years (at least with the women in my family) that once menopause strikes them, they totally lose their libido, become depressed, moody and constantly complain about being hot and other inconvenient or uncomfortable maladies. I don't feel any of this suffering to the extent that they have expressed that they have. I'm finding this time of my live very liberating and find myself wondering what all the fuss in regards to menopause has been about.

So either I'm an exception (which I seriously doubt), or there is something I'm doing right. I could stand to lose a good 50#, but I'm in good health. I'm not on any prescription drugs and don't suffer from any chronic illnesses as so many my age do. Oh and I don;t do alcohol.

[ecstatic]

129. I think it should be legal.. but if it isn't addictive, why do people risk jail

and spend their last dime on it?

[Bert]

140. simple really

Some people will spend their last money on lotto tickets. Weed is not physically addictive, this has been proven again and again. As to why they would risk jail for it, that is because some people have this crazy idea that what they do in the pursuit of happiness that doesen't hurt others should be their own business and not the governments. Also nothing else is like weed, that's why people do it. Crack and meth and heroin addicts may whore themselves out or rob a store to get their next fix becuase they are suffering from withdrawal, but this is not usually the case with weed. Case in point, if I am out of weed I will patiently wait till I can afford it and feel like it, then buy some more weed. There is also the fact that the more you smoke the less high you get over time so sometimes people go without it for a while and do it on special occassions. It's called getting a bigger bang for your buck and is another reason why weed does not lend itself to the sorts of abuse of the harder drugs.

I can guarantee you that I would never consider whoring myself out or robbing a convenience store or using the baby's milk money to get a fix from weed. You are more likely to see someone doing that kind of thing for cigarettes or even alcohol than for weed.

[Blue-Jay]

13. Potheads assemble! Burn the heretic!

Great. A pot-thread. How original.

[roody]

26. Please---no more carbon. Vaporize him!

[madrchsod]

56. vaporize your pot....i heard it`s the only way to smoke.

[roody]

70. It's much better for the lungs and throat.

But the vaporizor costs $200 and depends on electricity. Fortunately, I get mine directly from the sun. The pot too.

[nebenaube]

14. bs... compare and contrast:

Effects on memory and learning

An array of studies found that caffeine could have nootropic effects, inducing certain changes in memory and learning.

Researchers have found that long-term consumption of low dose caffeine slowed hippocampus-dependent learning and impaired long-term memory in mice. Caffeine consumption for 4 weeks also significantly reduced hippocampal neurogenesis compared to controls during the experiment. The conclusion was that long-term consumption of caffeine could inhibit hippocampus-dependent learning and memory partially through inhibition of hippocampal neurogenesis.<102>.

In another study, caffeine was added to rat neurons in vitro. The dendritic spines (a part of the brain cell used in forming connections between neurons) taken from the hippocampus (a part of the brain associated with memory) grew by 33% and new spines formed. After an hour or two, however, these cells returned to their original shape.<103>

Another study showed that human subjects — after receiving 100 milligrams of caffeine — had increased activity in brain regions located in the frontal lobe, where a part of the working memory network is located, and the anterior cingulate cortex, a part of the brain that controls attention. The caffeinated subjects also performed better on the memory tasks.<104>

However, a different study showed that caffeine could impair short-term memory and increase the likelihood of the tip of the tongue phenomenon. The study allowed the researchers to suggest that caffeine could aid short-term memory when the information to be recalled is related to the current train of thought, but also to hypothesize that caffeine hinders short-term memory when the train of thought is unrelated.<105> In essence, caffeine consumption increases mental performance related to focused thought while it may decrease broad-range thinking abilities.
Effects on the heart

Caffeine binds to receptors on the surface of heart muscle cells, which leads to an increase in the level of cAMP inside the cells (by blocking the enzyme that degrades cAMP), mimicking the effects of epinephrine (which binds to receptors on the cell that activate cAMP production). cAMP acts as a "second messenger," and activates a large number of protein kinase A (PKA; cAMP-dependent protein kinase). This has the overall effect of increasing the rate of glycolysis and increases the amount of ATP available for muscle contraction and relaxation. According to one study, caffeine in the form of coffee, significantly reduces the risk of heart disease in epidemiological studies. However, the protective effect was found only in participants who were not severely hypertensive (i.e., patients that are not suffering from a very high blood pressure). Furthermore, no significant protective effect was found in participants aged less than 65 years or in cerebrovascular disease mortality for those aged equal or more than 65 years.<106>
Effects on children

It is a common myth that excessive intake of caffeine results in stunted growth within children, particularly younger children and teenagers.<107> - recently, scientific studies have disproved the notion. Children are found to experience the same effects from caffeine as adults.

However, subsidiary beverages that contain caffeine, such as energy drinks, most of which contain high amounts of caffeine, have been banned in many schools throughout the world, due to other adverse effects having been observed in prolonged consumption of caffeine.<108> In one study, caffeinated Cola has been linked to hyperactivity in children.<109>
Caffeine intake during pregnancy

Despite its widespread use and the conventional view that it is a safe substance, a 2008 study suggested that pregnant women who consume 200 milligrams or more of caffeine per day have about twice the miscarriage risk as women who consume none. However, another 2008 study found no correlation between miscarriage and caffeine consumption.<110> The UK Food Standards Agency has recommended that pregnant women should limit their caffeine intake to less than 200 mg of caffeine a day—the equivalent of two cups of instant coffee or a half to two cups of fresh coffee.<111><112> The FSA noted that the design of the studies made it impossible to be certain that the differences were due to caffeine per se, instead of other lifestyle differences possibly associated with high levels of caffeine consumption, but judged the advice to be prudent.

Dr De-Kun Li of Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, writing in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, concluded that an intake of 200 milligrams or more per day, representing two or more cups, "significantly increases the risk of miscarriage".<113> However, Dr. David A. Savitz, a professor in community and preventive medicine at New York's Mount Sinai School of Medicine and lead author of the other new study on the subject published in the January issue of Epidemiology, found no link between miscarriage and caffeine consumption.<110>


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine

[ima_sinnic]

17. lay off the kool-aid, sucker, it's bad for the brain

have been a heavy pot smoker for just about 45 years--I mean an ounce every couple of weeks (when I could find and afford it)--and I'm the only 64-year-old I know who is NOT taking any form of prescription medication or have any particular health problems, physical or mental. But whatever--stick to the booze (which I now never touch), it's "better" for you, along with sugar and salt.

Even if it were true that pot is "bad for you," I'm an adult and it WAS a free country around here.
People are free to be drunk 24/7 and kill themselves with cirrhosis of the liver, lose their jobs and their livelihoods--and people are free to smoke 10 packs a day and die of lung cancer and smell like acrid smoke--why aren't you crusading to make those things illegal, to "protect" the citizens from their own vices?

[NanceGreggs]

18. Oh, BTW, vincenzoesq ...

... Dave's not here.

[Odin2005]

19. REEFER MADNESS!!!

:eyes:

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

46. You beat me to it. :)

[Webster Green]

20. Pantload.

Not only is it harmless, it's exceedingly beneficial. Cannabis is perhaps the most useful plant known to man.

I don't believe these bullshit studies. I believe my own extensive experience and observations, which indicate that these researchers likely have an agenda, like so many before them.

[Warpy]

22. Aw, bullshit

This is just more tired old DEA propaganda masked as legitimate medical study when it most assuredly is not.

No psychoactive drug is 100% benign for all people. Marijuana is the one that comes closest to being so, however.

Continuing to post hysteria like this does no one any good. Locking up non violent drug offenders does no one any good. Continuing to fund paramilitary forces to destroy crops here and abroad does no one any good.

It's time to end the insanity of the drug war. Their illegality and the profits going to criminal gangs from the black market sales have caused far more harm than the drugs ever would have.

End the drug war. We lost a long time ago because trying to legislate adult behavior just never works. We can only try to limit the harm to other people from voluntary behavior.

When you seek to make sin illegal, it just makes it more popular.

[mopinko]

63. what i want to know is

where is this more and more powerful stuff? i think if you laid all these 10x more powerful and 7x more powerful end to end you could reach the moon with a nickel bag.

[Warpy]

71. I remember the occasional one toke dope in the 60s

Anything stronger than that would just put you right to sleep.

There is no known toxic dose for it. All it does if you try to chain smoke joint after joint is make you so sleepy you can't keep your eyes open.

[Webster Green]

80. Hell yeah! they just weren't as readily available as today.

Strains like Santa Marta Gold, and Acapulco Gold, even complete with seeds, were still pretty potent. You could get those in the 60s.

The really potent sativas got more available in the 70s. Thai sticks were very potent, and available in the 70s. They were both pricey, prized, and seedless. Afghani hash was around in the 60s and 70s, it was easily available, $10 per gram always, and very potent because it was concentrated resins. The indica buds which were the source of the hashish, were hardly ever seen here, until hippies went to Afghanistan and brought seeds back and started growing the Cannabis indica. That's when the fun started, and the potency began to increase.

The big budded, sticky, skunky, purple Afghani Cannabis indica plants were crossed with incredibly potent, high THC Thai and Pakistani Cannabis sativas to produce the amazing hybrids we see today. Most of the famous varieties like the ones out of Amsterdam are offspring of the "halfy-affie" crosses made by California hippies in the mid 70s to late 80s.

:hippie:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

24. Would you like to tell us how it was miniature nuclear bombs that brought down the WTC?

How about how the moon landings never happened?

Or how the value of pi is really three?

Can you count to potato?

[CLANG]

52. You forgot the "e" on potatoe!

[Lyric]

25. People should have the right to take their own consenting adult risks.

Without interference from the nanny state. So long as they're not physically hurting anyone ELSE, of course.

[RainDog]

27. You post demonstrates why cannabis should be legal

cannabis is less harmful than alcohol.

first - your information is based upon people who have substance abuse problems. as your pasted copy notes:

Attention and memory deficits have been reported in heavy marijuana users, but these effects may be reversible after prolonged abstinence.

from your first link:
Attention and memory deficits have been reported in heavy marijuana users, but these effects may be reversible after prolonged abstinence.

on the other hand, alcohol causes permanent brain injury in chronic users.

ANYTHING that is abused is a problem. if you want to re-criminalize alcohol, you're a freaking idiot. you do not learn from history. you, it would seem, have cognitive and memory impairment demonstrated by your inability to recall how ineffective, racist and money-wasting prohibition is.

yet you want to continue prohibition of cannabis, a substance that is less harmful than alcohol.

in addition, studies now show that cannabis has many beneficial uses for people with various chronic illnesses. the benefits FAR outweigh the liabilities - why should someone with MS be put in jail because some people are panty-sniffers who always want to prohibit something they don't like?

the arguments against legalization are so lame.

it is a matter of individual liberties - adults have the right to make decisions for themselves.

studies have shown that cannabis use decreased after the Netherlands stopped enforcing laws and made it available in coffee shops. prohibition makes it easier for kids to obtain cannabis. I don't want kids using cannabis or drinking alcohol. and I don't want them around people who will have other, more dangerous substances on hand either.

so, yeah, I've thought about it and have decided that the SANE and DEMOCRATIC thing to do is stop the drug war against cannabis.

[Mopar151]

144. Judging by your post

Cannibas produces logic and measured, reflective thought. That's the LAST thing some folks want.

[Mojeoux]

28. The Studies are from 2006 and 2008? n/t

[marmar]

29. C'est la merde de tauro

nt

[RushIsRot]

30. I've been thinking about it since the 60s. Is that long enough?

If anyone ever holds a gun to your head and says smoke or else, then you've got a legitimate gripe. I suspect nobody would care to waste their herb on you.

[Shell Beau]

67. What person high on pot would do that anyway? lol

For the majority of people, it is a lazy and lovey high.


And if you've ever smoked, you can so understand Harold and Kumar Go to Whitcastle. :rofl: It is all about the food.

[RushIsRot]

131. Now you've got me Jones'n for some White Castle and there is

not a single one near here. I'd even settle for a Krystal, but they are all distant too.

Livin' out here in the woods is not all good, but close.

[kenny blankenship]

31. Fortunately a low cost alternative to marijuana exists, called alcohol

Beer, wine, bubbly, scotch, bourbon, tequila, moonshine - alcohol has a dizzying variety of "streetnames" to accompany the many recipes followed to produce it. The proliferation of potable forms of alcohol contributes to its pleasant affordability. Don't have a Chivas Regal budget? Here's a sixpack of PBR for you. Even Junior, with his paper route money, can afford to get wasted on Maddog 2020. And best of all, there are NO UNHEALTHY SIDE EFFECTS or socially malign impacts from heavy alcohol consumption as there are with sinister, foreign sounding marijuana.

Yup.

[Mopar151]

145. Yo, cheif - you dropped an icon

Here it is :sarcasm:

[Swamp Rat]

35. Next time post real scientific studies with links that work, please.

Plus, the Oxford Journal article refutes your thesis. Did you even read it all the way through? :shrug:

[eShirl]

36. Americans should think long and hard about what freedom and liberty mean. n/t

[G_j]

38. consider all the deadly side effects mentioned in the pharma ads on TV

for all the countless legal drugs, find even one for pot, and get back to us.

[GReedDiamond]

39. The OP is the kind of shit we are going to see a lot of,...

...especially here in California, as the day gets closer to when we VOTE TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA!

I especially like how an "addiction psychiatrist" is quoted. As if the solution to the "marijuana problem" is to go to a psychiatrist to be prescribed psychoactive, brain-numbing, potentially lethal pharmaceuticals being peddled by a legal pusher with a DEA prescription pad.



RIP Jack Herer. I am very sorry he won't be here to see legalization in CA happen.

[Webster Green]

45. RIP Jack.

We will miss you! :thumbsup:

[backscatter712]

44. OP is standing in the footsteps of Harry J. Anslinger...

Pioneer of drug prohibition, though his arguments were far more vile...

"...the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races."

"Marihuana leads to pacifism and communist brainwashing."

"There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing, result from marijuana usage. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others."

"Reefer makes darkies think they're as good as white men."

[G_j]

49. one of the most vile

what a horrible man

[spanone]

48. bs

[alfredo]

51. Pot smokers know exactly how much to to smoke. Stronger

the weed, the less they smoke of it.

[tekisui]

114. Exactly. Such a stupid argument.

If two tokes does it, then two tokes does it.:smoke:

I prefer that to sucking a joint all night and never getting right.

[alfredo]

126. I don't see where it is any stronger than the Indian Ganja

or Thai Stick I tried as I was crawling the bars overseas.

When I got back from the Army in 69 I was surprised at the poor quality of the street weed. It could be that the good stuff is kept for for domestic use, and the shake went to the US.

It's better because Ag students from your state universities applied their education to growing weed. We're just catching up to what the rest of the world has known for many centuries.

It's just too expensive for this retired old hippie. You don't need to smoke it to "remember" it.

[pipi_k]

53. I would question the statement that

"marijuana is the most devastating drug of all, because by the times the symptoms present, the damage has been done."




My brother, who is 40, is an alcoholic who has only been drinking very heavily for 8 to 10 years.

He has been hospitalized at least four times since December of last year. He has nearly gone into a coma and died twice.

The doctor has given him a 50% chance of living another 5 years if he never takes another drink again and follows his diet and medications schedule rigidly. If he drinks even one drink a week, the prognosis is less than one year.

He has Hepatic Encephalopathy. He has lost 75 lbs. since December. Not to mention that he can no longer work, and his wife had to move out with their two kids, although she does still love him and makes sure he has whatever he needs.

The damage has been done. It was done before he started to exhibit symptoms.

That, my friend, is devastation.

[Incitatus]

117. Yes, that is an asinine claim.

I have seen worse drugs completely destroy lives and families. I have never seen marijuana do anything close to what alcohol and harder drugs can do to people.

[GoneOffShore]

55. Yet another drive by post

Why don't you tell us how you really feel?

[mitchtv]

57. nonsense

Besides that prohibition only creates a gangster class. Been a viper since '64

[fishwax]

58. lol n/t

[Dreamer Tatum]

59. Don't you know that pot is the only completely safe substance in the world?

Breath air too quickly, and you hyperventilate. Drink too much water, and you can get water poisoning.

But marijuana...well, if there's anything we've learned from DU, it's that NO STUDIES ARE REQUIRED AT ALL
because it's perfectly safe to take an unlimited amount of it into your body. Just ask people: they've
conducted long term studies (n=1) and confirmed that there are no effects, whatsoever. So STOP QUESTIONING
IT.

Marijuana: safer than water and air. Always has been, always will be.

[Webster Green]

68. Idiotic post.

Lame fail. Go have another drink.

[Dreamer Tatum]

72. The lame fail is to have a knee-jerk response at the mere suggestion

that a drug could ever be bad for anyone.

[Webster Green]

77. Herb

Leave us the fuck alone, mmkay?

[BakedAtAMileHigh]

95. there's no foolin' you, you savvy media critic you!

So how safe IS cannabis?

Well, we know it is safer than alcohol, tobacco, prescription drugs, and even caffeine (over 7000 deaths a year!)so I am not exactly sure what your fucking point is other than to idiotically support propaganda that you obviously haven't really researched and do not fully understand.

Can cannabis cause negative reactions in some people? sure. So can cheesecake. Get over yourself and your ignorance.

[Dreamer Tatum]

97. Amazing.

Truly awe-inspiring.

Well done, sir.

[BakedAtAMileHigh]

150. find me anyone killed by cannabis, please

ANYONE. I'm still waiting.

[Dreamer Tatum]

161. Your avatar and screen name make logic futile

So toke up, bro.

[Forkboy]

164. We'll all take that as, "No, I can't find one."

[Dreamer Tatum]

170. So let me get this right....

...you'd like marijuana legal (which I agree with, by the way), BUT you
see no need for ANY sort of long run studies of THC effects. This, despite
the rigor applied to every other food or drug by the FDA.

Your argument seems to be, "fuck it, other stuff is MUCH worse for you," which
is at best a logical fallacy and at worst NOT TRUE.

In the 1950's, doctors used to make ads for cigarettes. Catch on?

[Forkboy]

171. I'll still take that as a, "No, I can't find one."

you see no need for ANY sort of long run studies of THC effects.

Like finding a death caused by cannabis, you won't find a post where I said what you're attributing to me here either. It's pretty funny to watch people make shit up and then argue with that instead of what's said. You were asked to find a death caused by cannabis. Instead of doing so you copped out and just insulted the poster instead. I merely pointed out that you didn't/couldn't/wouldn't find such a case, which you did not. Am I correct, or did you post a case that I missed?

Somehow, my pointing that out led you to deduce all kinds of things about my thinking on the subject, and to attribute an argument to me that was never made. Is this your idea of logic? And if so, should I take your comment on logical fallacy seriously?

[Dreamer Tatum]

172. I can't find one, but to you that means it's safer than water.

Since people have died in water.

Why is water legal?

[Bert]

139. So what standard should we apply

Should we apply the standard you would apply to weed to alcohol, tobacco, and any number of prescription drugs that are pushed on us? By the standard you would use salt would be prohibited. Either legalize weed or outlaw everything. That is all.

[BakedAtAMileHigh]

60. the graph you posted is a proven lie, genius

For chrissakes, do a little research before you post this shite. Your "brain scan" graph is garbage: it is now common knowledge the the Partnership for a Drug Free America used a fake brain scan to create that image.

I'm not sure you even read your own posted articles: you really do not have very much of an argument. How exactly does all this justify spending millions of dollars to lock away innocent plant users?

On Edit:

One famous example of the PDFA's fraudulence was reported circa Sept. 27, 1990 by The Hartford Courant in an article titled "Untruths, unreliable data create obstacles in war on drugs." The report states:

It is a stark message designed to persuade youths to stay away from marijuana.

And it is a lie.

The narrator tells television viewers they are watching the brain waves of a normal 14-year-old. As he speaks, squiggly lines with high peaks show an obviously active brain. The picture changes: The lines flatten. "These," the narrator says, "are the brain waves of a 14-year-old on marijuana."

The problem with this national television advertisement is that the flatter "brain waves" are not those of a teenager on dope; they are not brain waves at all. The electroencephalograph was not hooked up to anyone.

It is not just brain waves that are being manipulated in the war against drugs. Truth has been a casualty in other areas as well...

Theresa Grant, public information director for the nonprofit organization, said she doesn't see any problem with the ad.

"The marijuana brain-wave commercial was one of the ads that we used as a fact, rather than a fear-inducing ad," Grant said. Later, she acknowledged: "It was a simulation. They manipulated the machine. It was not attached to any person. It was not scientific. At the time we created it in 1987, we were told that it was an appropriate representation" by the government's National Institute on Drug Abuse ... She emphasized that the partnership has not conceded that the brain-wave representation was inaccurate ...

"It's a flat lie," said Grinspoon . "Marijuana has no clinically significant effect on the electroencephalograph." ... Citing a Harvard Medical School study, he said, "Nobody has been able to demonstrate one iota of brain damage from smoking marijuana."

[ScarletFyre]

61. I'm an expert on this subject myself.

Unfortunately, I have no research materials at the moment. :(

[hobbit709]

62. Hit and run BS post

[eShirl]

64. take your Reagan Era-style propaganda somewhere else

[ohheckyeah]

65. Let's not think long and hard about it

let's just do it. And as for today's is seven times more potent....that's just pure bullshit. It most certainly is not.

[Iggo]

66. BULL. FUCKING. SHIT.

Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[cliffordu]

69. That's funny -

I'm a walking poster for precisely the opposite.....


Booze was a gateway to Pot, crank, coke, acid, MDM, heroin, Morphine, codiene, uppers, downers, groaners and screamers......

Fuck me I loved me a budweiser....

At the end, the booze was all that remained. And that did more damage than all the other drugs combined.

[Warren DeMontague]

73. We've had several decades of drug war idiocy to think "long and hard" about it.

They were spewing that "the pot today is different" shit back when I started smoking it, too. In the early 80s. Bottom line? It's more Bullshit dreamed up by folks desperately milking the drug war gravy train, who realize the difficulty of selling a substance that millions of Americans have ingested with little or no ill effects- from Presidents to CEOs to the likes of Carl Sagan- as the same old 'demon weed'. The fact remains that "Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man." -that, of course, was DEA judge Francis L. Young. How many people have died from THC?

I don't know who you're shilling for, but it is widely recognized across the political spectrum--- by people who aren't getting their paychecks from the $40 Billion a year "drug war" or its fallout, that is--- that Prohibition is a failure. Alcohol is far more dangerous and deadly, particularly with "heavy daily use"-- yet alcohol prohibition, too, was a giant fucking disaster.

Legalize, regulate, and tax it already.

[NYC Liberal]

74. Your post does not match your subject.

There is nothing in your post that provides a valid argument against legalization of marijuana.

What else should we BAN and CRIMINALIZE because of supposed long-term effects of ABUSE? Note the word: abuse, not normal use. Not to say that what you posted is factually accurate (others here will do a good job assessing that), but abusing anything - BY DEFINITION - has bad effects.

Let's ban baseball bats. I hear that if you slam yourself in the head with one, you can cause permanent brain damage. :eyes:

[MindPilot]

75. You forgot to mention that legalizing pot would cause massive highway carnage

Because of all the people who would suddenly get an uncontrollable urge to drive to White Castle.

And that it is ten gabillion times worse for your lungs than the smoke from a burning nuclear power plant, and that it will cause breast growth in men and shrinkage in women. (They actually handed us that one in high school.)

[pipi_k]

89. Oh, but it gets way worse than that....

when hungry potheads with the raging munchies all descend on the local Mega-Market to buy chips and Twinkies and Little Debbie cakes...

blood and guts in the parking lots as hordes of stoners fight over parking spaces....dead bodies in the store, many of them run over by out-of-control drivers of shopping carts with one wheel that always sticks at a 90-degree angle...

And then there's the rioting over in the aisle with the SnackPak chocolate and tapioca puddings....

The entire country could implode from the violence!!!!111

[tkmorris]

78. It appears that by "think long and hard", you mean...

Post absolute bullshit and run away. Strange definitions words have on your planet.

[Swamp Rat]

79. pass the dutchie pon the left hand side...

... I'm still thinking long and hard about it. :D :smoke:

[mikeSchmuckabee]

81. here

[JNelson6563]

82. "more than 5 joints a day for 10 years"

Wow! That's some heavy pot smoking!

Yeah, a totally fair gauge. Not.

Some study. All that's missing was implications of young people ax murdering their parents ala Reefer Madness.

Julie

[grahamhgreen]

83. We already have been - since your side made it illegal. Fact is PRISON DOES FAR MORE DAMAGE!

[defendandprotect]

110. Agree . . . PRISON and the phony Drug War all do much more damage to us ALL . ..!!

In fact, it's doing damage to every other nation that has to deal with our phony

Drug War!!

[laughingliberal]

85. Here's where your post is disingenuous

They tested people who smoked > 5 joints per day for 10 years. And here's the answer from a professor of psychiatry at Columbia and addiction psychiatrist at New York State Psychiatric Institute (from the article, btw):

"Chronic use of large amounts of any substance that is affecting neural transmission will most likely invoke adaptive changes and lead to the reorganisation of neural networks, and possibly affect brain structures."
"Heavy users of marijuana probably represent only a very small proportion of users," Bisaga said. "It is not clear if any clinically significant changes can be seen in recreational, infrequent marijuana users, who were not studied here.

I defy anyone to show me a study of someone who has more than 5 drinks daily for 10 years who isn't showing some memory changes as well as liver damage. Peddle it somewhere else. I don't smoke pot but know several people who do. I don't know anyone who smokes 5 joints on any day let alone 5 every day. Addiction needs treatment for any substance but the fact that there are alcoholics, I don't think, means we are ready to return to prohibition.

[defendandprotect]

111. Nice post -- and completely agree --

:)

[defendandprotect]

112. dupe --

:)

[Codeine]

86. Does DU have to talk about pot every fucking day?

Jesus Christ stoners are boring.

[Tailormyst]

88. ummmm

~looks at your name~

ummmmm

[Codeine]

91. LOL!

:evilgrin:

Actually, a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codeine_(band)">band reference, but that was funny. :hi:

[Tailormyst]

94. hehehe

Your name makes me giggle, every time I see it I'm like "I LOVE THAT STUFF"!

[Romulox]

137. The band name is a reference to the drug, as previously discussed.

If it helps, we're just talking about the band marijuana (whose sound is 100% based on the effects of the selfsame drug.) :silly:

[Webster Green]

93. Really, stoners are boring?

I think authoritarian types who continue to try to keep marginalizing Cannabis are fucking boring.

I toured the country with my favorite bands, met a lot of my heroes, hung sound and lighting systems from the top of coliseums from coast to coast, all the while rolling doobies and getting everyone around me high as fuck. You really think doing national tours with rock bands is boring?

When I got lymphoma, I had to fly off the tours and go get shot up with chemotherapy, then fly back to meet up with the tour. Without cannabis, there is no way I could have handled it. It's a miracle plant, and that's a fact.

Too bad your extremely narrow perspective requires you to put everything into neat little boxes, based upon dumb-ass stereotypes.

[Bert]

124. And your hip?

Everything bores you huh? Avatar bores you but not codeine. I guess that little picture with the stud in the tongue makes you cool? You are boring. And if you dont like stoner threads then dont read them.

[Codeine]

127. Being functionally illiterate isn't helping your cause.

:dunce:

[Bert]

128. Please

Did you catch a typo? I would list my academic credentials for you but I am more interested in what your progresive views are. Do you have any?

[RainDog]

167. why do you post on these threads?

all you do is repeat redneck stereotypes about people who smoke pot. The truth about who smokes pot is much more complex than your simplistic cheap shots.

People make typos on DU all the time. It is juvenile to try to use that to score points against someone when you have NOTHING to bring to the discussion other than outdated insults.

yes, there are stoners. but there are thousands and thousands of people who use cannabis for medicine or for recreation who are not stoners. your posts sound like some "get off my lawn!" crank. put threads on ignore if you don't want to see one about pot. there are lots of threads on DU that people simply choose to ignore without hiding the thread...it's possible to avoid threads with content you don't like.

anytime I see a thread on this subject, you find your way to it to regurgitate a little insult onto the page. it's tiresome.

[Forkboy]

169. That poster is straight edge. They're always fun people.

It's not enough to live their lives how they see fit, but it's required that you also judge anyone else who doesn't live the same way. It's in their handbook.

[Webster Green]

177. You again?

(Ahem!)

You never responded to my post where I asked if you think it is "boring" to travel on the road crew with big name rock bands.

Please, oh glorious player of computer war games, do you think all of us roadies are boring, because we were pretty fucking stoned. Oh, and so were the bands.

So what do you think? Do you stand by your statement that "stoners are boring"?

[Codeine]

178. I suppose by "boring"

I'm referring to the tendency of stoners to go on and on and on about weed 24/7; it's basically like a religion to them. I'm bored by people who babble non-stop about Jesus, and I'm equally bored by people who pontificate endlessly about weed. The stoners themselves may or may not be boring, but the single-issue obsession most certainly is boring to me.

I'll admit to overstating my position; DU's been hostile and snarky lately and I've been reflecting that in my own posts. Apologies for my tone.

(I don't play computer wargames, actually.)

[Webster Green]

179. Fair enough, however, boring is a very subjective term.

Cannabis is endlessly fascinating to me. After I got done with serious touring, I spent 15 years in Southern Humboldt County, in the heart of the "Emerald Triangle", doing amazing Cannabis cross breeding and running from fucking helicopters. Definitely not boring.

If you see a thread where a lot of folks are jumping in to defend pot, it doesn't necessarily mean that's all they ever do. The plant itself is one of the most valuable resources on the planet. It's been marginalized with completely false propaganda, and yes, some very unfair stereotyping. :hi:

[Forkboy]

154. And straight edge people are a blast at parties.

[Tailormyst]

87. I have thought about it.

And I am still of the opinion that it should be just as legal as alcohol.

[ensho]

90. poopee

nt

[dionysus]

92. LOL. good luck with this thread.

:rofl:

[TheKentuckian]

96. Nope. I don't even want substances that I'm very much against and know full well are dangerous

illegal much less pot.

Prohibition is not the answer and free will should not be infringed upon until that free will interferes with another's. I find the nanny state argument weaker than most rather than a reason to pause.

[Bluenorthwest]

98. My favorite part is this:

"and there is no longer any doubt that the long term effects on the brain and vital organs are long term."
The long term effects are long term. That really made my day. Priceless.

[EOTE]

160. You're taking that out of context.

You forgot to note that this came right after the part where they note that there is no longer any doubt that any doubt remains. So that makes things make a little bit more sense.

[greencharlie]

100. ok, I've thought about it :D

[Ganja Ninja]

101. I have been thinking and doing research for over 30 years.

It's perfectly safe. Take my word for it.:smoke:

[WillyT]

102. Thought About It, Thanks, Pass The Bong...

:smoke:

:hi:

[county worker]

104. The prohibition has nothing to do with what you post. It has to do with a war on drugs that makes

money for it's proponents. Also people are using the drug and it is foolish to make criminals out of them in order to protect them from themselves.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

105. Number of people dead from pot -- ZERO.

[vincenzoesq]

106. shooting the messenger

I listed the marijuana research knowing full well it would be unpopular, and knowing that some of our members resort to name calling when they don't like what has been said. Just for the record, for the past 30 years of my professional life, I have worked with drug users aged 11 to mid twenties. What happens to some of them is not a joke, and could have been your child or mine.
Just a couple examples: One was high (yes, on pot) standing on top of a moving car, fell off, and was killed. Another blew his head off with a shotgun, one died in a motorcycle accident after using. And thankfully, some are living healthy, productive lives. Believe me, I am happy for those of you who don't have short or long term memory loss, or worse symptoms, but denial and minimizing are unproductive. Most health professionals, educators, and brain researchers that I know, don't think it's a risk worth taking.

[defendandprotect]

108. ... and you are saying that is totally attributable to marijuana . .. ???

What we need to do is make drug addiction a health issue -- not criminal.

[tekisui]

116. I know people who were wearing blue shirts shoot themselves in the head

and jump out of windows!!1!11!! The horror!!!

[defendandprotect]

119. Like the new map -- !!

:evilgrin:

[tekisui]

115. Fully sober people kill themselves in stupid ways, too.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

123. I wouldn't have a kid that stupid.

Not for using pot, but for standing on top of a moving car. And your other two examples could have been caused by a number of other factors.

[Bert]

125. With both barrels

And what is your message? Keep jailing people? Keep up the drug war? Keep publishing studies that are done to justify a political viewpoint? Keep avoiding the real issues? Want to see some of the health effects of drinking, smoking tobacco, or any other number of drugs that are pushed on us every day? You cant speak for most health professionals either and people who ride a motorcycle or play on top of a moving car or who play with shotguns are asking for trouble. It is telling that you still cant find one case of someone who ever died from smoking weed. Finally go f*** yourself you ass***.

Here's another one, a young man who had been convicted three times of weed violations was going to jail and killed himself. Must be the weed!

[MadHound]

134. And those types of incidents happen much more frequently with alcohol

Do you want to ban that too? Go back to the good ol' days of Prohibition?

Sorry, but your much of your information fails to back your contentions, and much of the rest has been disproven already as being simply anti-dope propaganda.

[Romulox]

138. Wait. You're linking pot use to suicide now? Any links, Mr. "health professional"?

[Webster Green]

187. You posted a load of crap that's been de-bunked a hundred times here.

You don't know a god-damned thing about pot.

You have been successfully brainwashed. That's it. I feel sorry for you.

[defendandprotect]

109. Imagine just the car accidents due to alcohol over the past 50 years!!!

[defendandprotect]

107. Alcohol is more abusive -- and harmful -- and so is the phony Drug War!! Legalize....

[tekisui]

113. blah blah blah.

It shouldn't be a crime. Period.

[saltpoint]

118. Ok, I thought about it, and I'm still for its legalization.

Let's put some people to work growing it, packaging it, and driving it around, plus some advertising jobs tossed in as well.

Let's make it dispensable through community outlets which seems to work pretty well. That's a few more jobs.

Let's make it a voltage-free switch on physicians' control panels, to put one more legal tool in their arsenal to treat patients in chronic pain.

Let's tax it pretty high with a designated percentage breakdown for public education, health care, and the arts.

Let's also acknowledge that the "war on drugs" was long ago lost and that the U.S. needs to move on fairly soon if not years ago in its evolution.

Let's stop throwing people in the slammer for small-amount possessions of schedule 1 compounds.

"Did you inhale?" reporters asked candidate Barack Obama about his drug use.

"Sure. That was the point." Obama replied.

[bemildred]

120. The question is whether criminal process is the right way to deal with it.

The evidence is quite clear that criminal process is a bonehead stupid way to deal with it. You don't have to favor everybody being stoned 24x7 to notice that.

[Lindsey]

121. I live in CA and am thrilled that we get to vote on it.. I'm a

recovering alcoholic. I speak from experience that without a doubt alcohol is 10 times worse than pot. Alcohol causes violence beyond belief. Pot mellows me out and helps me with my stress. I also have medical issues and it works wonders. I absolutely think it's going to pass. Yea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "As California goes, so goes the Nation".

[Union Yes]

122. compare the death toll of alchohol to weed... PROHIBITION never works. nt

[RedCappedBandit]

133. I don't give a fuck what kind of effects it has -

you have absolutely no right to tell me what I may or may not put in to my body. That's all there is to this argument. If you want to debate about the health risks associated with drugs, fine, but it should be irrelevant in a discussion of legality.

[vincenzoesq]

143. I seem to have struck few nerves

Good!

[hobbit709]

148. Let's see now. Hit and run post, wait 2 days and then gloat about stirring the pot.

You just made my list.

[RainDog]

149. obviously you're still suffering from memory and cognitive impairment

you post FAKE drug war propaganda and think you have struck a nerve because what you say matters?

hardly.

the point is that your post was so idiotic it's sad to see someone posting bullshit like this here.

[Rex]

152. Oh please, get over yourself!

Drama queen @ 12 o'clock! :eyes:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

155. Not in the way you wanted to.

[Webster Green]

190. OMG!

I can't stop laughing.

[RedCappedBandit]

157. You seem to have nothing to say.

Goes along quite well with your worthless OP.

[Forkboy]

159. Blatant stupidity has that effect on DU.

[walldude]

162. Yeah well, talking shit about something you have no clue about will do that..

Get a fucking grip, your post is at best hyperbole and at worst complete bullshit.

Bullshit studies, and BTW all the studies you posted cite CHRONIC ABUSE.

I hate to tell you this but chronically abusing anything is bad for you.

I'd go through all the positives about legalization, all the work to be had the money to be made, the prison sentences to be reduced, but judging from your OP you have no interest in reality or the truth.

[Webster Green]

189. Hope I never have the misfortune to run into you in the real world.

You are really misinformed, yet utterly convinced you are right.

Ignorant of the facts, yet totally arrogant. Very ugly indeed!

Yuk!

[Kalun D]

136. What a Bunch of Mumbo Jumbo Crap

You want to talk about legal drugs that cause death and destruction, look at alcohol or nicotine. Weed's not even close to these in death rates.

heck you can just look at legal pharmaceuticals, now there's some death rates, again weed's not even close.

the reason they don't want to legalize weed is several

1. the black market wouldn't make as much money

2. if weed were legal people would probably do weed instead of other illegal drugs that the CIA makes money from

3. Weed makes you think, that's the last thing our corporate owners want to happen cuz we'd realize how bad we are getting the a** raping. This is opposed to alcohol which makes you forget.

4. If weed were legal then hemp would be legal and lots of corporate interests would be threatened like nylon and wood paper mills.

Hemp is much more economical than several natural and artificial alternatives. It's probably the most beneficial, useful, and cost effective plant ever devised by nature.

[LooseWilly]

142. Visit Amsterdam, and see the horrors of legalization first hand...

Ok, you'll need to find one of the psilocybin mushroom distributors and just keep gobbling the shrooms until you start to have a bad trip... before you'll find any horrors.

Legalization ain't no thing. I don't even like pot, but legalization still ain't no thing...

[Rex]

151. So if you are a chronic pot smoker...hehe I said chronic...

you might suffer physical and mental side effects? Wow, what a toothless study. Smoke up dudes and dudettes! Puff, puff pass!

[gatorboy]

153. You lost me at "delusions of mind-reading."

[underseasurveyor]

156. Alcohol-Brain-Study

Alcohol-Liver-Study

Tobacco-Lung-Study

Fast food-Health-Study

Antidepressant Pill-Commit Suicide/Homicide-Study

Prescription Drug-Addition & Death-Study

Smoke Pot-Feel Better-Be Happy-Study:smoke:


My mother was a chemical dependancy 'therapist' and the LAST person on this earth I'll ever trust is a therapist's opinion.

The anti pot propaganda marches on /sigh
:puke:

[Trillo]

158. First link is interesting, but also appears biased.

Your first link that leads to a study titled "Marijuana use is associated with a reorganized visual-attention network and cerebellar hypoactivation" is interesting. As I was reading through it, I kept being reminded of the known connection between PTSD and marijuana.

Unfortunately, the study author shows his bias with the phrase "cognitive deficits", causing one to wonder where else in the study the same bias has manifested.

While it's just a guess, the flashbacks of PTSD would seem to be a form of brain hyperactivation.

[walldude]

163. Next time think long and hard

before you make an ass out of yourself :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[miscsoc]

168. are you for alcohol prohibition?

The negative effects of alcohol are well established. It's a dangerous drug.

A case can be made for prohibiting alcohol, but it's been tried and hasn't worked out, it didn't even reduce consumption (and therefore didn't reduce the undeniable health problems associated with alcohol consumption)

I have no knee jerk skepticism towards the possibility that cannabis might be dangerous, even severely so, but if it doesn't even help to criminalize one of the most addictive and dangerous drugs in the world, alcohol, why would keeping marijuana illegal be a good idea?

[cynatnite]

173. Alcohol is more dangerous. n/t

[RagAss]

174. .....I forgot what I was gonna say.

[GoneOffShore]

176. In the immortal words of Wolgang Pauli:

Das ist nicht nur nicht richtig, es ist nicht einmal falsch!

[shedevil69taz]

181. You mean overuse of a substance.....is bad?

I could never had figured that out on my own. :sarcasm:

[bobthedrummer]

184. Welcome to DU shedevil69taz.

:hi:

[demwing]

185. "the long term effects on the brain and vital organs are long term"??? What are YOU smoking?

I mean...Duuuuude

[ibegurpard]

186. yes, let's

it's a colossal waste of law enforcement resources to pursure pot smokers and producers.
anything in excess is toxic.
btw, i don't smoke anything.

[20score]

188. Lets blame the prohibitionists for the billions lost and the millions of families ruined, instead.

Because they have done thousands of times more damage than pot ever could.