I knew a guy who’s kid got hooked on weed and I don’t know what else after that. Consumed much of his life for several years. He has bounced back and is actually travelled a long and successful road to recovery. The sad thing is, it obviously damaged the guy. He’s just not the same confident and optimistic spirit he was before. Anyone who thinks the stuff today is the same as 20-30 years ago may be in for a sorry surprise. For myself, I don’t want to know.
Anyway, yeah, I could see the stuff as medicinal. The same as any other dangerous drug that should never be abused. It absolutely does altered the individual who consumes it.
Dangerous drugs. Yup. I was taking a biolgic which worked excellent for me and due to insurance changes I couldn’t afford it. I got into the VA system and got a new doc. He didn’t want to prescribe the stuff I used to take because he “didn’t care” for biologics. He put me on something else and warned me to stay strict with the dosage since it was basically poison. Nice. Anyway, he referred me to a rheumatologist and they diagnosed psoriatic arthritis and they prescribed my old med for me. Now I can afford it through the VA at $9 for a months supply instead of $1200 per month on the outside. No more poison pills.
Marijuana has been shown to alter the physical structure of developing brains. For one thing, it precipitates psychotic disorder. The effects may be permanent.
The brain continues to develop until about age 25. Thus, the target audience for the drug pushers is also the population most likely to suffer irreversible brain damage from use.
I just procured a tincture of Cannabidiol (CBD), the compound that probably is responsible for most of the legitimate beneficial medical effects. There is no psychoactive effect from CBD, no euphoria or altered consciousness other than a possible mild sedative effect, and is legal in all 57 states. One thing I can tell you after just a few doses is it stops restless legs syndrome dead in its tracks, totally disappears. There are numerous other plausible benefits.
According to a 2013 review published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, studies have found CBD to possess the following medical properties:
Medical Properties of CBD
Antiemetic - Combats nausea and vomiting
Anticonvulsant - Combats seizure activity
Antipsychotic - Combats psychosis disorders
Anti-inflammatory - Combats inflammatory disorders
Anti-oxidant - Combats neurodegenerative disorders
Anti-tumoral/Anti-cancer - Combats tumor and cancer cells
Anxiolytic/Anti-depressant - Combats anxiety and depression disorders
I'm skeptical of the anti-cancer claim myself but blocking of benign tumor development has been shown in animal studies.
More topical to the article, I am not aware of any huge spike or any spike in crime in WA State related to marijuana legalization. Not sure why Colorado is so different. Here in WA some schools report more mj on campus and others report less. Nothing consistent at all. Some districts have seen more THC DUI others no change. Street crime is entirely unaffected around here (SE WA).