Let's Not Kid Ourselves About Marijuana

Wall Street Journal ^ | January 15. 2014 | MITCHELL S. ROSENTHAL

[MeshugeMikey]

Let's Not Kid Ourselves About Marijuana Adolescents are vulnerable—and not just to pot. That's how they are programmed. They make rash and risky choices because their brains aren't fully developed. The part of the brain that censors dumb or dangerous behavior is last to come on line (generally not before the mid-20s). Meanwhile, the brain's pleasure-seeking structures are up and running strong by puberty.

When you link adolescent pleasure-seeking and risk-taking to marijuana's impairment of perception and judgment, it isn't surprising that a 2004 study of seriously injured drivers in Maryland found half the teens tested positive for pot.

[TigersEye]

If you’re 59, how many decades having you been obtaining your marijuana illegally?

All of them except that I haven't bought much in the last one.

Do you use a regular dealer?

No, never.

Does he/she offer other stuff?

See previous answer.

Are you in possession of illegal narcotics at this time and what sort of method did you use to obtain the marijuana?

Possession is legal here.

Did you pay by cash?

Usually. Sometimes I bartered.

Or was the transaction recorded so it’s traceable back to the dealer?

Irrelevant. See previous answer.

All of that is a red herring since it has nothing to do with any previous discussion on this thread and demonstrates nothing other than your inability to focus on the subject.

[wardaddy]

These threads amaze me...truly

This obsession..

[kcvl]

A 38-year study of more than 1,000 New Zealanders found that adolescents who used marijuana at least four days per week lost an average of eight IQ points between the ages of 13 and 38.43 Those people who began heavy smoking of marijuana only in adulthood did not suffer a loss of IQ. Loss of IQ was not reversible once marijuana use was ceased.43

Some marijuana users can suffer from cannabis psychosis when they take large doses over a period of time, with symptoms characteristic of paranoid schizophrenia.44 A recent study found that marijuana use significantly increased the risk of developing mental health problems among those young people who possessed a genetic high risk for schizophrenia (familial risk factors).45 Among cannabis users who developed cannabis-induced psychosis, 44.5% developed schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, with about half of those being diagnosed more than a year after seeking treatment for their cannabis-induced psychosis.46 A study using a sample of 880 adolescents in Melbourne, Australia found that lifetime cannabis use and the frequency of cannabis use in the last year were associated with psychotic-like experiences (primarily the experience of auditory and visual hallucinations).47 Another study examined the association between cannabis use and psychosis in 3,800 participants involving a subset analysis of 228 sibling pairs over a 21-year period of time. The results showed that early use of marijuana was associated with psychosis-related outcomes in young adults.48

Another study examined the associations between cannabis use and the development of mood and anxiety disorders.49 The study found no association between cannabis used and the development of anxiety disorders, although there was a significant correlation with the development of depression and bipolar disorder.49 Another study found an association between cannabis use and the development of panic attacks.50

[TigersEye]

Yes, cannabis used to be in the British and American pharmacopeias of the 19th century for pain relief and menstrual cramps. There are current studies suggesting its use for brain cancer.

As with most substances there are positive effects and negative effects.

[deltanine]

“Are you telling me marijuana would do something bad to pilots about to fly a plane?”

Certainly one is impaired when using marijuana and shouldn’t fly, drive or operate heavy machinery. Same goes for alcohol or any mood altering drug.

So what is your point? It is already illegal for pilots to be high while flying and that will not change even if marijuana is decriminalized. Just as it is illegal for them to be drunk and flying even though alcohol is legal.

[TigersEye]

You should provide links to those studies.

A preliminary DTI study showing no brain structural change associated with adolescent cannabis use

The Center for Advanced Brain Imaging, The Nathan S. Kline In stitute for Psychiatric Research , Orangeburg, New York, USA and 2 The Department of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, U

[kcvl]

Studies have suggested that smoking marijuana increases the risk of both oral cancers81 and lung cancer.82 This is because marijuana smoke contains carcinogenic materials, including vinyl chlorides, phenols, nitrosamines, reactive oxygen species, and various polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, including Benzo[a]pyrene, which is present in marijuana tar at a higher concentration than in tobacco tar.83 Ammonia was found in marijuana smoke at levels up to 20-fold greater than that found in tobacco.84 Hydrogen cyanide, NO, NO x , and some aromatic amines were found in marijuana smoke at concentrations 3-5 times those found in tobacco smoke.

Mental health issues linked to cannabis increase by half in four years

The number of cannabis users suffering serious mental or behaviour disorders has increased by half in just four years.

The sharp rise has coincided with growing concerns over the increased prevalence of so-called “super skunk”, a particularly strong form of the drug.
In 2008, leading psychiatrists warned people who smoked super strength were 18 times more likely to suffer a psychotic episode.

Figures released to MPs show that the number of hospital admission for mental or behavioural issues due to cannabis rose from 651 in 2008/09 to 1,003 in 2011/12.

Mary Brett, who chairs the campaign group Cannabis Skunk Sense (CanSS), said: “’Despite many warnings over the years the rise in admissions must surely be truly alarming.

“However, this 54 per cent increase in episodes of cannabinoid-induced mental or behavioural issues should come as no surprise.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/10116830/Mental-health-issues-linked-to-cannabis-increase-by-half-in-four-years.html

[RginTN]

Leftists love seeing the populace drugged. Doped up people focusing on getting dope aren’t gonna notice that much Leftists fundementally destroying the nation.

I’m trying to visiualize a doped up Milton Friedman destroying Donahue with brillaint logic...can’t!

[Cementjungle]

Like I say, got any problem flying on a 747 with the pilots all doobied-up?

You seem to be under the delusion that someone who smokes pot for their enjoyment is like the drunk who has 2 shots and a beer for breakfast.

There are normal people in this world, and there are addicts. It doesn't matter what the substance is, they're going to either be responsible or they're not.

[TigersEye]

Since you have abandoned reasoned discourse for the cut&paste spam response technique I will reply in kind. Even though it is an intellectually bankrupt form of debate.

'Cannabis' brain tumour drug hope

Chemicals called cannabinoids could starve tumours to death by halting the growth of blood vessels that feed it, the Complutense University team hope.

By studying mice, the team has shown for the first time how these chemicals block vessel growth.

Their study, published in Cancer Research, also shows the treatment appears to work in humans.

[deltanine]

“I’m trying to visiualize a doped up Milton Friedman destroying Donahue with brillaint logic...can’t!”

Ooops! Poor example. Friedman believed in legalizing drugs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLsCC0LZxkY

[TigersEye]

So did William F. Buckley Jr.

[Alissa]

High is high, whatever the substance of your choice. No one HIGH (brain impaired) should be on the roads driving a vehicle. These laws are just going to kill more innocent people for the pleasure of a few liberals.

[deltanine]

“Gee, that difficult to get?”

Yes it is because you aren’t consistent in your outrage. You don’t want to decriminalize marijuana but you are okay with a society awash with alcohol.

Is there a problem with drinking alcohol? Is there a terribly negative effect; enough that you don’t want your pilots allowed to do it? Then why aren’t you advocating for another round of alcohol prohibition?

[RginTN]

So what. Milton Friedman wasn’t high on pot when he was verbally destroying Donahue and his leftwing panel.

Yeah man, greed....need to inhale my pot..what were we talking about.../imagining Friedman on doped up on pot debating Donahue

[cva66snipe]

They should have just left it alone and not included it in the W.O.D. Typical pot of the 70’s and 80’s COMPARED to what is being developed by and for black market demand has created a far bigger problem and risk than it ever was to start with. Was it smart to smoke it? Nah! But most who did became bored with it and quit. A few went on the the harder stuff but most didn't. I'm guessing the THC content of today's stuff on the streets is now many times higher than what was on the streets three decades ago. It wasn't like it hadn't been around for decades {actually all the time} before. I'm not worried about Pot Heads. I'm worried about the idiots with missing brain cells making METH.