That's about what we could expect from you. It's about as clear as mud!
Posted on 07/08/2006 2:48:58 AM PDT by neverdem
In what could be a coup for antimarijuana forces, new research shows that rats exposed to pot's active ingredient at an early age devour more heroin as adults than rats without early exposure. Some experts, though, say the jury is still out on whether the finding is enough to officially label marijuana a "gateway" drug.
According to statistics from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, most adults who take illicit drugs start doing so in their early teens. In addition, the earlier kids start smoking dope, the more likely they are to use harder drugs later on. For example, of people who first puffed weed before age 15, 62% went on to use cocaine and 9% to use heroin. But of those who started smoking pot after age of 20, only 16% moved onto cocaine and 1% to heroin. Some researchers think this means that marijuana is a gateway drug--one that leads to harder drug use. Others point out that such a claim is hard to prove because the same factors that lead people to use marijuana in the first place might also lead them to use other drugs.
To see through the smoke, neuroscientist Yasmin Hurd, now at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and colleagues at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, gave 4-week-old rats THC, the most common psychoactive component in cannabis. The researchers injected the rats with the THC equivalent of about three-quarters of a joint (scaled down for a rat's size) every third day for 3 weeks until they reached mid-adolescence, about 7 weeks old. The dose probably created a mild buzz, but not high enough that the rats stumbled. After a week-long break, the rodents were allowed to self-administer heroin using levers that provide the substance.
Rats that had been exposed to THC as "teens" took about 25% more heroin than did their just-say-no peers. Biochemical tests of the adult animals showed that THC-doused brains had the same number of receptors that responded to THC as unexposed rat brains, but more receptors for heroin and more of a compound associated with reward behavior in their neurons, the team reports online 5 July in Neuropsychopharmacology. Whether this indicates marijuana is a "gateway" drug depends on the definition of "gateway," says Hurd. She says both groups of animals took the same amount of time to start taking heroin, suggesting THC use doesn't start them on the path to hedonism, but the THC-primed rats got more into it, suggesting it paves the way for increased use.
"The important finding is the fact that adolescence is a time of increased vulnerability to drugs," says neuropharmacologist Sari Izenwasser of the University of Miami School of Medicine in Florida, who notes that such behavior may alter fundamental brain processes. But pharmacologist Aron Lichtman at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond inserts a note of caution. "The data really are very provocative," he says, but not conclusive. He questions whether other reward-reinforcing behavior, such as eating food, would also be increased under these conditions.
I think winston2 is engaged in a little "research" of his own, if you get my drift.
Well, good morning to you too George.
Well, then, when they start stealing enough to pay for Big H, they are no longer protected by poverty.
That's about what we could expect from you. It's about as clear as mud!
The first was from news@nature.com; the second is from ScienceNOW Daily News. It provides another perspective and more experimental detail, i.e. timing and quantity.
Boy, and I thought I had troubles keeping my dog off the computer.
I'll check back on this thread later to read the drug worshipers pushing their sacrament of recreational drugs.
You don't want to be messing directly with drug cartels. -ca gal
car·tel (kär-tĕl')
1. A combination of independent business organizations formed to regulate production, pricing, and marketing of goods by the members.
2. An official agreement between governments at war, especially one concerning the exchange of prisoners.
3. A group of parties, factions, or nations united in a common cause; a bloc.
I figured I would let you know the actual meaning of the word, since you assume facts not in evidence, and don't seem to know what it means.
You indicated were on a private farm, and spotted a large mj field.
Alllllrrrrrriiiiiighty... everybody knows a pot farmer keeps his fields beside the road, where everyone can see them!
You are entertaining, if nothing else...
Had a triathlete riding with us, he fell, I did NOT! :-)
You need to reset your computer. VIEW ** TEXT SIZE ** LARGEST :-)
I can read just fine, thank you. I just use that term to describe your almost-hysterical goody-goody girly foolishness (with apologies to you ladies!). You should join with the other prudes in the WCTU.
In what way?
I am - if for no other reason that the Meth-heads driving all around me, none of whom have probably slept for 3 days. That's quite enough reason for me, thank you.
You are dealing with some folks here that are drug activists trying to remake mainstream ethics through their eyes so they can be considered more normal when they practice their Sacrament of recreational drug use.
Obviously it isn't working and the idiotic statements made on every drug thread about stopping law enforcement because it hasn't totally stopped drugs is fairly retarded as a debate point.
We haven't totally stopped murder, theft, drug related violence either, but we know without a price to pay for crime, it will only grow.
The libertarian (or however they want to categorize themselves) crowd is probably the most disappointing contingent on FR. Totally friggin' clueless as to the big picture.
He had a bad back and several prescriptions. As any moralist who has "nerve problems" can testify, that illegible scrap of paper from a Dr. mitigates ALL effects of ALL sythetic optiates.
9 When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,
10 And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.
Notice in verse 10 the comment that men usually served the good wine first and kept the wine that was not as good to be served lastly so that its quality was not noticed. This had to be a reference to fermented wine, as the alcoholic content of the wine would be more inclined to cause them not to notice bad wine later in the evening after they had a few drinks.
There are many other references to wine throughout the Bible showing that it is actually an alcoholic drink. Now with this scriptural evidence, comes the next question. Is it sinful to drink wine? The answer to this question is that the wine itself is not sinful, because sin is in the heart of man and does not exist in any object of itself. It is the drunkenness and intoxication that comes about when a man drinks too much that causes him sin. The Bible teaches discipline and moderation; even eating too much food is a sin and is called the sin of gluttony in the Bible.
The scripture in Proverbs 20:1 warns us what wine and strong drink can do to a man. Men can end up raging and brawling and doing things in a drunken stupor that are very unwise and that they will also regret. How many times have we heard the expression when someone talks unwisely after drinking too much -- "That was the alcohol talking." The Bible does make a distinction, as to the affect that strong drinks (alcoholic beverages like whiskey, vodka, etc.) have on a person, as opposed to wine, showing that the strong alcoholic drinks are far worse at causing men to become out of their heads and violent. The wine is bad enough, as it can cause men to loose their senses and mock others. People will also mock them for their out of control inebriation.
So what should our position be as Christians since we know the many sorrows that drunkenness causes? We know that alcoholism is responsible for many broken homes because of the abusive behavior toward family and others. We know the many deaths on our highways caused by drinking and driving. What about the many premature deaths caused by health problems stemming from alcoholism? Alcoholism has now become a costly drug addiction problem. Yes, drunkenness is a very evil sin that hurts the whole nation. The Bible says all drunkards who do not repent will not inherit the kingdom of God.
http://bible.com/bibleanswers_result.php?id=213
Haven't read it but if it is as you described it to be (which I don't doubt, Robert) it sounds like junk science too.
I like your screen name. Are you a Combat Wombat?
I still have sore spots and several visible scars from my old dirt bike........and I miss it lo these 30 years past. Occaisionally, when putting around I still go the wrong way on the shifter out of old habits.
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