Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Legalize cannabis? Not so fast, say medics
Bermuda Sun ^ | June 22, 2011 | Raymond Hainey

Posted on 06/22/2011 11:34:42 PM PDT by AustralianConservative

Government Senator Marc Bean recently called for a debate on the merits of decriminalising drugs in the wake of a report from the Global Commission on Drug Policy. A distinguished panel that wrote the report said the war on drugs had failed and recommended partial legalization as a solution to the blight of the illegal drugs trade on communities around the world.

Not so fast, warn medics.

Side effects of marijuana can include a heightened risk of psychotic illnesses like schizophrenia, depression, damage to memory and judgement and heart problems. Neurologist Dr Keith Chiappa said: “The use of marijuana, especially in younger age groups, should not be encouraged by any legalisation and should continue to be discouraged by specific programmes.”

Consultant psychiatrist Dr Chantelle Simmons said: “Cannabis use has been shown to be associated with difficulties in thought processes in 15-20 year olds.

“When you have a young adult, whose brain is still developing, there is a five times greater risk of schizophrenia.”

“It particularly adversely affects the developing brain and it’s also closely associated with psychosis.”

The Mid Atlantic Wellness Institute doctor added: “As a clinician, I try to focus on medical implications only, but I would have concerns that decriminalization would send a message that it was okay to encourage marijuana use.”

Dr Simmons added that studies had shown that marijuana use caused higher rates of depressive illness in adult women – four times the rate of depression found in non-users.

Teenage marijuana smokers have also been found to be less likely to complete high school and more likely to make poor career and life choices.

Dr Simmons said: “People say ‘it’s only weed, it’s natural’. It is a natural substance, but it can have significant adverse effects. It can not only cause psychosis, but exacerbate existing phychoses.”

(Excerpt) Read more at bermudasun.bm ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: cannabis; marijuana; mentalhealth; pot; schizophrenia
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 321-326 next last
http://bermudasun.bm/main.asp?SectionID=24&SubSectionID=270&ArticleID=52735
1 posted on 06/22/2011 11:34:49 PM PDT by AustralianConservative
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: AustralianConservative

I really hope they don’t. I believe it’s a lie that marijuana is not harmful. Dr. Paul being a doctor should know better. Barney Frank is nothing but a little ugly worm who makes my skin crawl.


2 posted on 06/22/2011 11:39:51 PM PDT by freekitty (Give me back my conservative vote; then find me a real conservative to vote for)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: AustralianConservative
This article is a tissue of logical fallacies - chief among them, the "Straw Man" fallacy mixed with the "It's for the Children!" fallacy. Though the "All or Nothing" fallacy (also known as "Demanding Perfection") likewise gets a good work-out. And the fact that the medical side-effects (neurological changes, metabolic disorders, etc.) and behavioral problems (not completing high school, etc.) of ALCOHOL are, of course, not mentioned.

And, of course, the societal costs (including erosion of the Constitution - specifically of the Bill of Rights) of the "War on (Some) Drugs" are not discussed.

That's why I say: "RE-legalize it."

Regards,

3 posted on 06/22/2011 11:42:02 PM PDT by alexander_busek
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: AustralianConservative
Dr Simmons said: “People say ‘it’s only weed, it’s natural’. It is a natural substance, but it can have significant adverse effects. It can not only cause psychosis, but exacerbate existing phychoses.”

Poison Ivy is also a natural weed. Let's smoke some, right after we finish this delicious Night Shade salad!

4 posted on 06/22/2011 11:43:08 PM PDT by Grizzled Bear ("Does not play well with others.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Grizzled Bear

Exactly. Did you know snake venom can make you dizzy too? These people are nuts.


5 posted on 06/22/2011 11:46:38 PM PDT by AustralianConservative
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: alexander_busek
You have the gall to point out a “Straw Man” fallacy, and follow by saying alcohol is bad, so let's legalize marijuana (paraphrased).

I double dog dare you to wipe your butt with some poison ivy. It's a plant and so is Marijuana. Go for it.

Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial.

6 posted on 06/22/2011 11:46:47 PM PDT by Grizzled Bear ("Does not play well with others.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Grizzled Bear

I have heard that argument used so many times, and they always find a way to say that hemlock, nightshade etc. don’t count.


7 posted on 06/22/2011 11:46:50 PM PDT by LukeL (Barack Obama: Jimmy Carter 2 Electric Boogaloo)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: freekitty
I really hope they don’t. I believe it’s a lie that marijuana is not harmful.

Going to a disco and staying out until 5 a.m. when you have to work the next day is likewise "harmful." Hey! Let's make that illegal, too!

Alcohol causes changes to the brain chemistry. 7-year-olds who drink two bottles of Jim Beam a day have a lower high school graduation rate... Hey, let's illegalize alcohol for everyone!

No one here is claiming that marijuana smoke is better for your lungs than fresh, pine-scented air. Rather, it is the recognition that the "War on (Certain) Drugs" has caused immensely greater harm than good, and squandered billions, while simultaneously encouraging the creation of a sprawling bureaucracy with para-military powers that tramples on our Constitutional Rights because - "It's for the Children, sniff!"

Regards,

8 posted on 06/22/2011 11:48:35 PM PDT by alexander_busek
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: freekitty

It is funny how these leftists demand no cigarette smoking and vilify it at every chance they get....yet they glorify marijuana when the smoke is more toxic to the lungs.

Marxism has no logic....it makes evil good good, evil....everything is relative. They don’t care about the “children”....they want addicts and dysfunctional people who need government to take care of them.

If we had no welfare state...then fine, have no laws against marijuana...BUT since we DO have government interference in all aspects of life we can’t legalize it because then they do not suffer the consequence for their actions.

It is like the welfare queen....we pay women to have babies out of wedlock so Voila!! we get lots of it.

We legalize drug use and have government subsidize the losers...and Voila...we will get a lot of the dysfunctional addicted behavior....and a lot of the college kids I talked to who smoked marijuana said it made them lazy and they would skip classes or work etc.

Wow—how far from the Horatio Algers type who formed Reagan’s worldview.

Now we have dysfunctional, lazy people forming the worldview of our future generation....Great!


9 posted on 06/22/2011 11:48:47 PM PDT by savagesusie (Virtue is a habit of the mind, consistent with nature and moderation and reason. Cicero)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: freekitty

Me too. Socialists love drug legalization. It creates dependence on government. I know. I’ve witnessed it Europe. Ron Paul reminds me of cult leader though who is beyond accountability.


10 posted on 06/22/2011 11:49:55 PM PDT by AustralianConservative
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: AustralianConservative

I’ve seen young locals in Afghanistan harvest scorpian poison glands, dry them, crush them and smoke them.

What lengths people go to in order to numb their senses! Ozzy explained it best when he said people do this because they don’t like who the are. He went on to state that if he like who he was, he wouldn’t have spent so much money on crap that he drank, snorted or injected to alter his perceptions.


11 posted on 06/22/2011 11:50:06 PM PDT by Grizzled Bear ("Does not play well with others.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: AustralianConservative
From the Merck Manual

Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug; it is typically used episodically without evidence of social or psychologic dysfunction.

Let's not get all in a tither.
12 posted on 06/22/2011 11:50:12 PM PDT by andyk (Interstate <> Intrastate)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: alexander_busek

You “have the right” to use a cordless drill on your forhead. Just sayin...


13 posted on 06/22/2011 11:51:32 PM PDT by Grizzled Bear ("Does not play well with others.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: alexander_busek

The science is very clear and saying that alcohol is like pot (a falsehood) and then pretending that two wrongs make a right is counterproductive. The brain imaging technology is very clear.


14 posted on 06/22/2011 11:52:31 PM PDT by AustralianConservative
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Grizzled Bear

Points taken. It’s funny how the radical anti-American movement was dominated by potheads too.


15 posted on 06/22/2011 11:54:54 PM PDT by AustralianConservative
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: AustralianConservative

Someone on THIS thread PLEASE tell me how many deaths marijuana (illegal) has caused... and how many deaths alcohol (legal) has caused??????????????????????????????????


16 posted on 06/22/2011 11:55:36 PM PDT by freepersup (Today, we raise our glasses of spirits and mugs of ale high- to Budge.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: andyk

Thanks for the propaganda dude. Let’s also ignore the brain imaging scans and studies from Oxford.When potheads get off welfare, produce some real studies, and stop trashing businesses in my area, then I’ll relax. I’m not comfortable with feral anarchists.


17 posted on 06/22/2011 11:57:26 PM PDT by AustralianConservative
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Grizzled Bear
Poison Ivy is also a natural weed. Let's smoke some, right after we finish this delicious Night Shade salad!

I double dog dare you to wipe your butt with some poison ivy. It's a plant and so is Marijuana. Go for it.

For the record: I smoked half a joint, once in my entire life, about 15 years ago. Period.

Now, to your objection: I am not advocating the consumption of marijuana, nor do I argue that - because it is "natural" - it must be healthful. Alcohol is likewise "natural" - but I wouldn't give it to my 3-year-old.

Rather, I am arguing that we should not 1) spend BILLIONS to incarcerate hundreds of thousands of petty minor "users" and that 2) the mere EXISTENCE of the drug-law enforcement organizations is ominous.

The "natural" argument (which is NOT my argument) is, I think, that marijuana is part of the natural world in which we live, like rocks, the air we breathe, trees, and roadside weeds, and is thus (theoretically) omnipresent and "mundane," and that it is therefore intellectually ingenuous to classify it (legally) like some artificial substance created in underground labs and which didn't even EXIST until some Swiss chemist formulated it.

Regards,

18 posted on 06/22/2011 11:57:56 PM PDT by alexander_busek
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: alexander_busek

Do you think it should be taxed?


19 posted on 06/23/2011 12:01:36 AM PDT by nickcarraway
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: savagesusie
If we had no welfare state...then fine, have no laws against marijuana...BUT since we DO have government interference in all aspects of life we can’t legalize it because then they do not suffer the consequence for their actions.

So, since we do have a 1984-style, Big Brother and/or Nanny State constantly infringing upon our freedoms "for our own good," rather than changing THAT, you would rather accept blatantly unfair, heavy-handed, INEFFECTIVE anti-drug laws?

It is funny how these leftists demand no cigarette smoking and vilify it at every chance they get....yet they glorify marijuana when the smoke is more toxic to the lungs.

Ad Hominem Fallacy! I, a dyed-in-the-wool Conservative who thinks that it should be allowed to carry hunting rifles openly, etc., assert that marijuana is perhaps as "evil" as nicotine, or as dangerous as even alcohol... But that we should revert to the situation we had in the late-19th century, when it was NOT illegal to grow, possess, and smoke hemp. Heck: It is well documented that both Thomas Jefferson and George Washington were hemp farmers (though it is not recorded how often they "lit up").

Regards,

20 posted on 06/23/2011 12:04:28 AM PDT by alexander_busek
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 321-326 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson