Posted on 07/09/2007 7:21:35 PM PDT by Eric Blair 2084
WASHINGTON -- News that Al Gore's 24-year-old son, Al Gore III, was busted for pot and assorted prescription pills has unleashed a torrent of mirth in certain quarters.
Gore-phobes on the Internet apparently view the son's arrest and incarceration as comeuppance for the father's shortcomings. Especially rich was the fact that young Al was driving a Toyota Prius when he was pulled over for going 100 mph -- just as Papa Gore was set to preside over concerts during a 24-hour, seven-continent Live Earth celebration to raise awareness about global warming.
Whatever one may feel about the former vice president's environmental obsessions, his son's problems are no one's cause for celebration. The younger Gore's high-profile arrest does, however, offer Americans an opportunity to get real about drug prohibition, and especially about marijuana laws.
For the record, I have no interest in marijuana except as a public policy matter. My personal drug of choice is a heavenly elixir made from crushed grapes. But it is, alas, a drug.
Tasty, attractive and highly ritualized in our culture, wine and other alcoholic beverages are approved for responsible use despite the fact that alcoholism and attendant problems are a plague, while responsible use of a weed that, at worst, makes people boring and hungry, is criminal.
Pot smokers might revolt if they weren't so mellow.
Efforts over the past few decades to relax marijuana laws have been moderately successful. Twelve states have decriminalized marijuana, which usually means no prison or criminal record for first-time possession of small amounts for personal consumption. (Those states are: Alabama, California, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Oregon.)
(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...
WHAT? Have you been looking at that damn CONSTITUTION again? The one that says that if it does not affect interstate commerce or the national defense or coinage or some other SPECIFICALLY SPELLED OUT AREA ADDRESSED BY THE CONSTITUTION then the federal government is forbidden by law to pass laws about it?
Don't you know we are past all that stuff? Today's conservatives can't be bothered by those arcane outdated pieces of paper. We are out to protect our children from the evil drug dealers, protect ourselves from the evil muslims, and protect ourselves from the evil libs. You clearly do not understand that these three demonic forces are so threatening that we must sacrifice all our liberties to fight them. These evil threats to freedom are so awful that we must surrender our freedoms in order to fight them. Are you so stupid you don't understand this? You sound like one of those Ron Paul wack jobs.
You wouldn't care to support those bald statements would you ?
No conservatives recreationally drink ?
Is that always a problem ?
so you've done that too...
I thought it was just me ....
cool
“If you’re suggesting that this prohibition has done anything useful, I’d like to know what it is.
The last time around, prohibiton led to higher prices and crime by users to pay the price, black market sales of tainted products, organized crime, massive government corruption, gang murders by the score, gun bans, and a massive assault on the individual’s ability to transfer money.
This time around, it’s led to higher prices and crime by users to pay the price, black market sales of tainted products, organized crime, massive government corruption, gang murders by the score, gun bans, and a massive assault on the individual’s ability to transfer money. And of course, this time we’ve also got the rehab industry.
But sooner or later, someone is going to get it right.”
**********************************************************
Not to be argumentative, but they’ve already got it right!
What you view as faults are actually features - the system works.
It just has different goals than you might at first imagine.
Please cite sources.... ("Reefer Madness" does not count)
Marijuana Cuts Lung Cancer Tumor Growth In Half, Study Shows
Science Daily ^ | 4/17/07 | American Association for Cancer Research
Posted on 04/18/2007 4:20:10 PM EDT by Teflonic
The active ingredient in marijuana cuts tumor growth in common lung cancer in half and significantly reduces the ability of the cancer to spread, say researchers at Harvard University who tested the chemical in both lab and mouse studies.
They say this is the first set of experiments to show that the compound, Delta-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), inhibits EGF-induced growth and migration in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expressing non-small cell lung cancer cell lines. Lung cancers that over-express EGFR are usually highly aggressive and resistant to chemotherapy.
THC that targets cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2 is similar in function to endocannabinoids, which are cannabinoids that are naturally produced in the body and activate these receptors. The researchers suggest that THC or other designer agents that activate these receptors might be used in a targeted fashion to treat lung cancer.
"The beauty of this study is that we are showing that a substance of abuse, if used prudently, may offer a new road to therapy against lung cancer," said Anju Preet, Ph.D., a researcher in the Division of Experimental Medicine.
Acting through cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2, endocannabinoids (as well as THC) are thought to play a role in variety of biological functions, including pain and anxiety control, and inflammation. Although a medical derivative of THC, known as Marinol, has been approved for use as an appetite stimulant for cancer patients, and a small number of U.S. states allow use of medical marijuana to treat the same side effect, few studies have shown that THC might have anti-tumor activity, Preet says. The only clinical trial testing THC as a treatment against cancer growth was a recently completed British pilot study in human glioblastoma.
In the present study, the researchers first demonstrated that two different lung cancer cell lines as well as patient lung tumor samples express CB1 and CB2, and that non-toxic doses of THC inhibited growth and spread in the cell lines. "When the cells are pretreated with THC, they have less EGFR stimulated invasion as measured by various in-vitro assays," Preet said.
Then, for three weeks, researchers injected standard doses of THC into mice that had been implanted with human lung cancer cells, and found that tumors were reduced in size and weight by about 50 percent in treated animals compared to a control group. There was also about a 60 percent reduction in cancer lesions on the lungs in these mice as well as a significant reduction in protein markers associated with cancer progression, Preet says.
Although the researchers do not know why THC inhibits tumor growth, they say the substance could be activating molecules that arrest the cell cycle. They speculate that THC may also interfere with angiogenesis and vascularization, which promotes cancer growth.
Preet says much work is needed to clarify the pathway by which THC functions, and cautions that some animal studies have shown that THC can stimulate some cancers. "THC offers some promise, but we have a long way to go before we know what its potential is," she said.
Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by American Association for Cancer Research.
There fixed it for you.... what are you high? ... hehe
LOL!
No freaking doubt. There is no connection with most people. They just don't understand the fact that nothing the government has done regarding drug prohibition has actually achieved the stated aims of decreasing their prevalence. When I was a kid, it was easier to buy pot than beer.
The WOD is a sham, and it has been from the very beginning. It is merely a convienient tool to subvert the constitution and our basic rights.
So marijuana is significantly more carcinogenic? Even if were roughly equal to tobacco’s carcinogenicity, I would expect that to be part of the public health discussion and repeated as often as the risks associated with tobacco smoking. Perhaps if marijuana was grown by large corporations then there would be more of that. Do you have any particular source or website or search terms regarding marijuana’s carcinogenic properties. My search so far ends up at NORML and related pro-legalization sites. This is one of those topics that people seem to dismiss, but I want to know the actual science on this, not the politics of it.
Don’t forget that he was also caught with other “controlled” scheduled drugs that are supposedly useful for treating ailments via a physicians’s prescription.
The point being, if people want to use chemicals for recreation they will no matter how strict the govt. is or isn’t regarding prohibition.
His real crime was driving while high and at a speed that could kill someone, but that happens with sober people all the time too.
Society doesn’t need any more crap in the system.
The “it’s no worse than....” arguement pretends that society benefits from adding to the menu of mind numbing substances.
Also, pretending that it doesn’t lead to more serious drug use, ignores reality.
I’ve seen enough lives and families destroyed via these “victimless crimes”. (4 siblings from a very “Leave it to Beaver” family.)
Al Gore Junior (the former senator and VP and college dropout) was also a pothead.
And now he is a paranoid psychopath with man boobs and a lisp. Coincidence? I think not.
Now of all the threads on FR about prohibition and pot I’ve read yours is the best reason I’ve seen to keep it illegal and to never ever put your lips to a bong!!
I’ll get back to you on it.
“It is always criminally illegal for recreational drugs and criminally illegal for alcohol if it is abused in certain ways as well.”
Can you name a way that alcohol abuse is illegal?
It’s bad stuff, let people avoid it please.
You have a great point but you only see one side of the liberty/personal accountability coin. Let people make the choice what they put in thier bodies and then let them face the consequences.
The people pushing pot here are in no way conservative, they just pathetical pro dopers who want their recreational drugs. They are all over DU as well.
If they want to buy their own island and kill themselves, so be it.
If they want to live among others, don’t do the drugs and obey the laws. There is no right to put others at risk for a good buzz.
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