Posted on 04/09/2011 3:34:13 PM PDT by AustralianConservative
Paranoia is one of the most unpleasant "side effects" of marijuana. It's also a key experience shared by marijuana smokers and people with schizophrenia. But exactly how does smoking a joint cause the feeling that dark forces are conspiring to do you wrong?
New research in rats may help explain the source of this distress. The study, led by Steven Laviolette at the University of Western Ontario in Canada, involved training rats to fear the scent of either almond or peppermint. The scents were delivered to rats in a cage either with black-and-white striped walls or with black polka dots on a gray background. (The rats were not pre-tested for their taste in interior design.) One scent was accompanied by an electric shock to the rodents' feet, while the other scent was not.
At the same time, researchers experimented with the activity of the CB1 receptors in a certain region of the rats' brains. These cannabinoid receptors are activated by the main psychoactive component of marijuana, THC. In some rats, the scientists blocked CB1-receptor activity; in others, they used a marijuana-like drug to enhance it.
(Excerpt) Read more at healthland.time.com ...
Everyone’s body is different...
Some can drink one or two and some turn into alcoholic’s and that is hereditary.
Some people smoke and are not paranoid and
some are paranoid...
I am not a drug-first libertarian. I simply don’t think that is the most urgent or pressing issue facing us today. I am not from Australia, so I can’t comment on the situation there, though.
Don’t take it personally that I commented on it, because it wasn’t meant that way.
I think the point is, nearly anything abused to excess is harmful.
I would probably agree with your stratification.
Small amounts of alcohol can definitely have an effect. It’s all dependent on tolerance and body weight. And even a BAC of 0.04, which can be achieved by having a couple of beers in an hour, can have effects as slight as they are.
Yes, I’ve been hammered and have also had a couple of drinks. The difference is massive. That doesn’t mean that there is no intoxication at all with having a couple drinks.
The health benefits of a couple drinks a day is exaggerated and unclear. Certainly not to a point that justifies drinking.
You can say anything you want, it does not make it true. Not everyone smokes pot until they are seriously high. And it doesn’t render everyone “stupider.”
Screw you jackass. People who pay into social security should get what they put into it, be they a pothead, alcoholic, heroin addict, or anything.
So beer makes you fat, sleep with fat chicks, and get your ass kicked. Got it.
You want neuroscience? Here's some neuroscience.
Pot joins the fight against Alzheimer's, memory lossHigh-dose cannabis stimulates growth of brain cells in rats
Heavy Marijuana Use Doesn't Damage Brain
Analysis of Studies Finds Little Effect From Long-Term Use'Cannabis' brain tumour drug hope
Fixed the link.
>> So beer makes you fat, sleep with fat chicks, and get your ass kicked. Got it.
I hope not too often.
Cannabis Chemicals Stop Prostate Cancer Growth
ACTIVE chemicals in cannabis have been shown to halt prostate cancer cell growth according to research published in the British Journal of Cancer.
Researchers from the University of Alcala, in Madrid tested the effects of the active chemicals in cannabis called cannabinoids on three human prostate cancer cell lines - called PC-3, DU-a45 and LNCaP.
The prostate cancer cells carry molecular ‘garages’- called receptors- in which cannabinoids can ‘park’.
The scientists showed for the first time that if cannabinoids ‘park’ on a receptor called CB2, the cancer cells stop multipyling...
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/161628.php
Inhibition of human tumour prostate PC-3 cell growth by cannabinoids R(+)-Methanandamide and JWH-015: Involvement of CB2
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2743360/
That’s good news. Thanks for the links.
Ok. But what is your problem with weed?
Praise God!
“How many people have you seen smoke pot and how many times? “
I’m not going to pretend to give you a number. A good many in my teens; a few less in my twenties; it’s probably been ten years since I’ve seen anyone I know smoke.
It doesn’t matter. If you want to make moderate alcohol use equivalent to marijuana use, no number I come up with is going to change your mind, anyway.
“Not everyone smokes pot until they are seriously high”
I said most everyone. And there is no other reason to smoke it. Well, I guess there are some medicinal uses, but that is not what we are discussing.
I always thought alcohol was a bit more wicked than most any other drug. With heroin, cocaine and the like everyone knows that if you use them you will become physically addicted. People know the score and make their choices.
With alcohol everyone knows that only a minor percentage of its users will become physically addicted. So people think "not me" and take the chance. But it is difficult to predict which ones and the unlucky ones end up with something worse than heroin addiction.
You don't have to drink heavily at all to become an alcoholic either. Rates of consumption have no bearing on that.
I think everything you just wrote was based on your personal experience. We all write from that, unless perhaps we are researchers involved in big double blind studies.
Pot destroys lung function when smoked.
Sure there’s another reason to smoke it. It’s to get buzzed. Unless you are counting any sort of intoxication as “seriously high.” Which makes about as much sense as calling any sort of intoxication off of alcohol as “seriously drunk.”
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.