A Marijuana Breakthrough?

The Scotsman ^ | Nov. 5, 2004 | David Kohn

[Ahriman]

A decade ago, when Daniele Piomelli went to scientific conferences, he was often the only researcher studying cannabinoids, the class of chemicals that give marijuana users a high. His work often drew sniggers and jokes; but not any more. At the recent annual Society for Neuroscience conference in San Diego last week, scientists delivered almost 200 papers on the subject.

Why all the attention? Many scientists believe marijuana-like drugs might be able to treat a wide range of diseases, far beyond the nausea and chronic pain typically treated with medical marijuana.

Researchers presented tantalising evidence that cannabinoid drugs can help treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease - Parkinson’s disease and obesity. Other researchers are studying whether the compounds can help victims of stroke and multiple sclerosis.

Although the chemicals work on the same area of the nervous system, the new drugs are much more refined and targeted than marijuana, with few of its side effects.

"Cannabinoids have a lot of pharmaceutical potential," says Piomelli, a neuroscientist at the University of California. "A lot of people are very excited."

[Beckwith]

"So should we also legalize heroin because there are opiod analgesics?"

Let's remember that heroin was developed as a cure for morphine addiction.

[laredo44]

Thanks for the entertainment. Pothead.

No prob. Tyrant.

[Osage Orange]

Like in unintended consequences......?

[Freebird Forever]

Legalization of drugs is the obvious solution to a problem that will always exist.

I'm not willing to go that far.

IMO, refined substances such as meth, coke and heroin should never be legalized for recreational use.

But all plants / fungi should be, as well as be fully studied for medical efficacy.

[Know your rights]

all employers will be required to conduct routine drug tests with zero tolerance.

Why? If the local cineplex doesn't care that their ticket-tearer got high last night, why should you?

[Know your rights]

It impairs learning, motivation, and productivity.

So does alcohol, but I don't want that banned; do you?

Our culture doesn't need another mechanism to convey to our youth that drugs are an acceptable form of recreation.

What our country doesn't need is alleged "conservatives" basing arguments on the notion that "legal" equates to "acceptable." That's just caving in to the socialists.

There is no upside.

Liberty is always an upside.

And don't whine to me about law enforcement and prisons.

Why not? Why should my money be taxed to jail someone who doesn't put me at non-negligible risk?

Rather, look at Holland, Norway, & Sweeden and tell me how many of their social problems you would like to import.

Sweden has tough anti-drug laws. Thanks for making the pro-drug-freedom argument.

[dware]

I'm told by a police officer neighbor that there is no roadside test for cannabis intoxication. Want to go to court to watch a pothead walk free with a wave and a song after crushing your child with a 3,000 lb. weapon?

As if there's not already a lot of people on the roads who are high? In all reality, IF the number of pot smokers rose once pot is made legal, things would probably be safer - noone with any ambition to go anywhere. They get high, and then vegetate.

[finnigan2]

"Pot does not impare your driving... "

- The following list of side effects from smoking pot was copied from an information web site after doing a quick search on Google using "Cannibis, effects" as the search parameters. Note particularly effect #10.
It's ironic that western societies, which have spent billions trying to control the damage caused by drinking alcohol would be so eager to embrace another chemical habit.


Cannabis - RISKS:
1 When stoned, the user’s eyes become red and the heart beats faster.
2 It can make users paranoid and anxious, depending on their mood and situation.
3 Mixing cannabis with tobacco and smoking it damages the airways and lungs and can lead to users getting hooked on tobacco.
4 Inhaling deeply and holding the smoke in, or sucking on a bong or water pipe, increases the amount of tar and other dangerous chemicals which stick to lung tissue.
5 Smoking cannabis over a long period of time can increase the risk of respiratory disorders, including lung cancer.
6 Plastic bottles, rubber hoses, PVC, aluminum drinks cans or tinfoil, should not be used to smoke cannabis. These all give off toxic fumes when hot.
7 Some infections, such as hepatitis, can be passed on if several people are sharing the same joint.
8 Cannabis affects the short-term memory and ability to concentrate and make judgments.
9 The user may also be affected by cannabis the next day, and it may be more difficult to perform important tasks that require a clear head or sharp reactions.
10 Getting stoned affects coordination, increasing the risk of accidents. It impairs driving skills, so never get into a car driven by someone who is stoned.
11 If cannabis is used with alcohol the risk of becoming ill is increased.
12 Users should not use cannabis around others who may be affected by the smoke, particularly children. Low levels of cannabis have been found in the urine of young children.

[AnnaZ]

Funny they want to create a marijuana-like drug. Isn't that like creating a poultry and bread-like chicken sandwich?

LOL! Like the scientists a while back who "discovered" that nicotine had calming effects on the brain and wanted to come up with a convenient delivery system for it.

 

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[Know your rights]

It's ironic that western societies, which have spent billions trying to control the damage caused by drinking alcohol would be so eager to embrace another chemical habit.

Who's eager to embrace it? We've simply learned from our experience with alcohol that banning a recreational chemical causes more problems than it solves.

[finnigan2]

"We've simply learned from our experience with alcohol that banning a recreational chemical causes more problems than it solves."

- An unproven hypothesis.
I once attended first year university class with an absolutely brilliant classmate who was a spellbinding speaker, natural leader and could talk with intelligence on just about any topic - right up to the first morning cigarette break. From then on he sat in class, a look of amusement on his face from some private jokes he was telling himself. He would nod off by lunch time and seldom came back for afternoon classes. He failed his year and quietly disappeared.
How many more "quiet failures" would occur, especially among young people, were everyone to be passing around legal cannabis during class or office breaks?
Alcohol at least has thousands of years of western experience with it's use so we, as a society, have built a set of rules around it - and even then it's a major damaging factor in many peoples lives. Imagine adding cannabis to that mix. Within a generation most of our population would be content to chill out, collect their welfare benefits and let a small group of less weak willed citizens run their lives.

[G Larry]

>It impairs learning, motivation, and productivity.<

"So does alcohol, but I don't want that banned"

This is the most disingenuous rebuttal possible.
With legalization, the availability, portability, ease of use, and popularity among our youth, it would have significant and negative consequences for our society.

The idea that a joint would simply be an alternative to a couple beers at the end of the day is willful ignorance.

[William Terrell]

"Of the many psychoactive drugs, licit and illicit, that are available and used by people who subsequently drive, marijuana may well be among the least harmful." Robbe, H. and O'Hanlon, J., Marijuana and Actual Driving Performance, Washington DC: Department of transportation (1993), p. 107.

See also: Hansteen, R.W., et al, "Effects of Cannabis and Alcohol on Automobile Driving and Psycho-motor Tracking", Annals of New York Academy of Sciences, 282: 240-56 (1976).

See also: Moskowitz, H., et al, "Marijuana: Effects on Simulated Driving Performance", Accident Analysis and Prevention 8: 45-50 (1976).

See also: Peck, R.C., et al, "The Effects of Marijuana and Alcohol on Actual Driving Performance", Alcohol, Drugs and Driving, 2: 135-54 (1986).

". . .either that cannabis. . .actually increases driving ability or. . .that drivers taking cannabis overcompensate for any loss of driving skills". Chait, L.D. and Pierri, J., "Effects of Smoked Marijuana on Human Performance: A critical Review", pp. 387-424 in Murphy, L. and Bartke, A. (eds),Marijuana/Cannabinoids: Neurobiology and Neurophysiology, Boca Raton: CRC Press (1992).

All these are a sample; there are plenty more.

If you wave your prejudices in everyone's faces without doing any research on their credibility, you just end up sounding ignorant.

[WildTurkey]

"Of the many psychoactive drugs, licit and illicit, that are available and used by people who subsequently drive, marijuana may well be among the least harmful."

"may" does not convey certainty.

"least harmful" does not support your premis that pot does not impair driving.

[William Terrell]

Read the studies, Slick. There are about 20 more that say the same thing.

You have picked up an opinion that is not based on fact, prolly from someone or ones that have not bothered to check the facts, either.

[WildTurkey]

Of the many psychoactive drugs, licit and illicit, that are available and used by people who subsequently drive, marijuana may well be among the least harmful." Robbe, H. and O'Hanlon, J., Marijuana and Actual Driving Performance, Washington DC: Department of transportation (1993), p. 107.

It appears that taking a couple of tokes does impair your driving!

---------------------------from your source---------------

"Figure 1 [absent here] demonstrates that marijuana impairs driving performance as measured by an increase in lateral position variability: all three THC doses significantly affected sdlp relative to placebo<.012, .001 & .001, for the 100, 200 & 300 g/kg conditions, respectively. The Dose by Time effect was not significant indicating that impairment after marijuana was the same in both trials. Marijuana's effects on sdlp were compared to those of alcohol obtained in a very similar study by Louwerens et al. (1987). It appeared that the effects of the various administered THC doses (100-300 g/kg) on sdlp were equivalent to those associated with bacs in the range of 0.03-0.07 g%.

[Military family member]

Also excellent paper. The Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution were written on hemp paper.

[avenir]

"How did a thread of the benefits of cannaboid (Marinol) research get corrupted into a 'smoke your joint' thread?"

The reality--"I love marijuana"--keeps bursting through the facade--"I care about cancer victims".

Not much more to it than that.

[WildTurkey]

"How did a thread of the benefits of cannaboid (Marinol) research get corrupted into a 'smoke your joint' thread?"

The reality--"I love marijuana"--keeps bursting through the facade--"I care about cancer victims". Not much more to it than that.

Nothing like putting it short and sweet! Thank you!