Research helps dispel marijuana myths

Sober Talk ^ | Thursday, August 1, 2002 | By BECKY CLARK, MSW, CSW

[Behind Liberal Lines]

As we endeavor toward a more lucid and informed discussion of substance abuse, let's deconstruct the mystique of marijuana and recognize it for the dangerous drug that it is.

Marijuana is a substance that's worthy of our concern. It is the most prevalent of all illicit drugs used in the country. The 2000 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse reported that 34 percent of Americans have used marijuana in their lifetime and 5 percent are current users.

[Zon]

I simply cannot believe that any self respecting Conservative can sit idly by while companies pass out Dixie cups for random drug testing.

It's a mater of free association. A contract between an employer and an employee. If one or both don't like the contract they are free to refuse and seek another employer or employee. I hope you haven't implied that the government should force the employer to hire a person or force the employer to refuse to hire a person. next thing you know the government will be forcing people into prison because they used drugs. Oh that's right, the government already does that.

Discrimination laws are political agenda laws.

Main Street's brick and mortar businesses are private property  For if they were public the police wouldn't need a search warrant. Police need warrants only for private property. If a private property owner decides he wants to invite strangers in from the street he can do that and the guest must follow the property owner's rules.

What's wrong with this picture?

Read the Fourth Amendment. Sheesh, we can't even trust our "employees" -- government officials -- to let them into our homes and businesses without a search warrant if we don't want to let them in. But somehow a business is forced to trust a total stranger with an open door policy. A person/business owner can refuse to allow a government agent -- his servant -- access to his property but not a total stranger! And get this, it is the government -- the servant -- that can't be trusted that is telling property owners -- the master -- that they must trust total strangers.

Discrimination laws must be repealed. And hold accountable the members of congress that created discrimination laws at the cost of violating property owners private property rights.

[Behind Liberal Lines]

He has no point ...Execept for the one on the top of his head ....

Wow.

I haven't read kind of cutting edge original banter since...I dunno..."Bewitched" re-runs on "Nick and Nite."

While you are at it, why not--I know--do a parody of my name to insult...that's almost as original. You could call me, for example, "A Liberal Line's Behind" or maybe "He got behind a liberal's lies."

anyway...Excuse me while I shrink away, having been so thoroughly chastised by you Noel Cowardesque brand of side splitting humor.

[MEGoody]

LOL Seems we have more and more pot heads joining us on FR. I just love reading their rants. They're so. . .disoriented.

[Wolfie]

I feel the same way about the fat slobs I see cramming themselves into McDonalds every day. Here's hoping that someday we won't have to put up with those self-indulgent porkers.

[clamper1797]

A contract between an employer and an employee. If one or both don't like the contract they are free to refuse and seek another employer or employee.

Though I agree with you on 99% of your posts ... I do not agree with the above. Granted that the BoR does not mention the "right to privacy" BUT it does have that little ( and mostly forgotten) thing about unreasonable search and seizure. I don't beleive that a company should be able to demand an employee to check their God given rights at the company door. The contract between an employer and employee is one of a business nature and not one of servitude. The statement that someone can go somewhere else to work fails when ALL employers require employees to "check their rights" at the door because no one is stopping them from doing so.

[MEGoody]

Well, if one is familiar with the bible and actually cares what God has to say on issues, He does tell us to be sober and clear minded. Pot certainly won't do that for you - in fact, you are just the opposite when high on dope.

Like I said before, the disoriented rants of the pot heads on these threads are quite amusing.

[sweet_diane]

"A contract between an employer and an employee. If one or both don't like the contract they are free to refuse and seek another employer or employee."

You are right. I signed that piece of paper giving them right to examine my urine in their biased test and am free to leave. It's hard for me to not refuse the test and quit, letting them know exactly why. If I ever do do that, you can believe I'll leave them their Dixie cup full to ease their curiosity.

I do know that one of the main reasons the company I work for does random testing is to lower insurance premiums.

Seems to me the 'big picture' keeps getting bigger and bigger.

[clamper1797]

While you are at it, why not--I know--do a parody of my name to insult...that's almost as original. You could call me, for example, "A Liberal Line's Behind" or maybe "He got behind a liberal's lies."

Now that is a good (accurate) one. anyway...Excuse me while I shrink away, having been so thoroughly chastised by you Noel Cowardesque brand of side splitting humor.

Oh ... You're doing just fine on your own. You don't need me to help with the chastisement.

[Lorenb420]

Loren we need you here.....

You look like your going alright :)

My only thoughts on this are, studies like this are lame. Even if everything fact in there is true, what part of the Constitution allows them to determine what plants are allowed to grow? And more to the point, what part authorizes them to regulate what an individual puts in their own body?

How about putting the issue to American people to vote on? No not just the 450 or so professional drama queens in Washington, why not let all citizens voice they opinion on this?

Oh wait, then the people might disagree with their masters, and we can't have that.

Ironically though, even if they legalized weed tomorrow, you wouldn't be able to smoke it anywhere, thanks to all the anti-tobacco smoking regulations :)

[MEGoody]

"So how's about it, self-righteous bleaters for more socialism; shall we dance? "

If by this you mean an individual who does not believe pot should become a legal substance, then I'll play.

[jayef]

And why should I, as a taxpayer, have to pay to imprison people who have not commited a crime against anyone? By the way, we don't wanna grow up, we wanna leave you grups behind in your socialistic morass!

[rb22982]

Marijuana is a substance that's worthy of our concern. It is the most prevalent of all illicit drugs used in the country. The 2000 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse reported that 34 percent of Americans have used marijuana in their lifetime and 5 percent are current users.

It's actually far far higher than that, in fact I'd say very few high school students actually make it out now without at least trying marijuana.

The fact that the average age of first use among Americans has dropped, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, from age 20 in 1966 to age 16 as of 1996, raises some questions. What threat does marijuana actually represent? Is it the innocuous substance that some advocates hold it to be? A review of research findings can help clarify answers.

The average age for eating potato chips dropped from 6 to 5 in the same time period. This really doesn't mean anything. I bet tobacco smoking starting age has dropped also.

The American Psychiatric Association classifies marijuana as an addictive drug, one that can foster a dependency among users. The national Drug Enforcement Agency has determined that marijuana is a Schedule I illegal drug.

Oh it is addictive, but far less addictive than alcohol and nicotine.

Comparing Addictive Qualities of Popular Drugs (Higher score indicates more serious effect)
Drug	Dependence	Withdrawal	Tolerance	Reinforcement	Intoxication
Nicotine	6	4	5	3	2
Heroin	5	5	6	5	5
Cocaine	4	3	3	6	4
Alcohol	3	6	4	4	6
Caffeine	2	2	2	1	1
Marijuana	1	1	1	2	3

Withdrawal: Presence and severity of characteristic withdrawal symptoms.

Reinforcement: A measure of the substance's ability, in human and animal tests, to get users to take it again and again, and in preference to other substances.

Tolerance: How much of the substance is needed to satisfy increasing cravings for it, and the level of stable need that is eventually reached.

Dependence: How difficult it is for the user to quit, the relapse rate, the percentage of people who eventually become dependent, the rating users give their own need for the substance and the degree to which the substance will be used in the face of evidence that it causes harm.

Intoxication: Though not usually counted as a measure of addiction in itself, the level of intoxication is associated with addiction and increases the personal and social damage a substance may do.

Source: Jack E. Henningfield, PhD for NIDA, Reported by Philip J. Hilts, New York Times, Aug. 2, 1994 "Is Nicotine Addictive? It Depends on Whose Criteria You Use."

A 1997 report by the Office for National Drug Control Policy revealed that of all substance abuse treatment admissions nationwide, the number of people who reported marijuana as their primary drug of choice has been increasing steadily over the past several years.

This is an interesting statistic, what they failed to mention is that they force people who test positive for marijuana to go into these programs as part of their punishment. Since marijuana accts for 1/2 of all drug arrest (over 85% are just for possession), this isn't surprising. Try outlawing coffee and see similar results. In many parts of the country, more people are admitted to treatment for marijuana dependence than for heroin. Clearly, we can take from this that marijuana is, in fact, a dependence-fostering drug, a dependence that an increasing number of people are seeking help to address.

See above, plus millions more people use marijuana than heroin. The danger of marijuana can be measured in trends found in hospital emergency rooms. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported earlier this year that emergency room admissions where marijuana use preceded injury rose 141 percent between 1994 and 2000.

This is such blatant misreading of facts, notice this doesn't say taht the increase was due to marijuana problems, just that people who went into the ER, had marijuana in their system. Well gee, marijuana stays in your system for 30 days genius. Similarly, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that marijuana is the second most frequently found drug involved in vehicular accidents, after alcohol, implicated in 4 to 16 percent of fatal auto accidents.

A 1990-91 study by NHTSA found that 52 percent of drivers in fatal crashes had alcohol in their blood, compared to 7 percent with traces of marijuana. In analyzing the role that drugs played in the crashes, NHTSA found "no indication that marijuana by itself was a cause of fatal accidents."
A study commissioned by the NHTSA found:

Drivers under the influence of marijuana retain insight in their performance and will compensate where they can, for example, by slowing down or increasing effort. As a consequence, THC's adverse effects on driving performance appear relatively small.

A 1988 study in the Archives of Surgery found that among 1,023 trauma victims, marijuana had been used by 34.7 percent, alcohol by 33.5.

I assume he meant, had used marijuana, while this is an interesting statistic, it means nothing. I bet 100% had water at some point too. Unless they can show that marijuana greatly causes trauma medically this is a meaningless statistic

[Hemingway's Ghost]

Why should I, as a taxpayer, have to be surrounded by burned-out wastoids whose lousy lifestyle choices have wrought them harm--and who will almost invariably whine and bitch that "the world owes me something"? (rehab, Rx drugs, benefit checks, whatever)

Which do you hate more, people who actually smoke pot, or your stereotype of people who smoke pot?

This goes back to the classic baby-boomer, hippie attitude: freedom = "I gotta be me, I'll do what I want, whatever feels good, damn the consequences."

Do what Zon suggested in a previous post, then. If potsmokers hurt you so badly, sue a potsmoker in civil court. If you've been hurt so badly, you obviously deserve damages.

The rest of us are still waiting for this most pampered, self-indulgent generation in American history to grow the hell UP!

This leads me to believe you have a problem with stereotypes.

[sweet_diane]

"How about putting the issue to American people to vote on? No not just the 450 or so professional drama queens in Washington, why not let all citizens voice they opinion on this? "

For years I have wondered what would become of just that. On a national ballot when everyone is already heading to the polls to vote.

Yes or No to marijuana legalized, regulated and taxed as alcohol and tobacco are. If you want to grow for your own use, buy a permit even. It's illegal to give or sell alcohol and tobacco to minors, to be under the influence while driving... same rules applied to marijuana and enforced!

I think the results would be interesting.