Posted on 05/05/2004 2:30:07 PM PDT by qam1
CHICAGO -- Habitual marijuana use increased among U.S. adults over the past decade, particularly among young minorities and baby boomers, government figures show.
The prevalence of marijuana abuse or dependence climbed from 1.2 percent of adults in 1991-92 to 1.5 percent in 2001-02, or an estimated 3 million adults 18 and over.
That represents an increase of 800,000 people, according to data from two nationally representative surveys that each queried more than 40,000 adults.
Among 18- to 29-year-olds, the rate of abuse or dependence remained stable among whites but surged by about 220 percent among black men and women, to 4.5 percent of that population, and by almost 150 percent among Latino men, to 4.7 percent.
Among all adults ages 45 to 64, the rate increased by 355 percent, to about 0.4 percent of that population. The report, published in today's Journal of the American Medical Association, was led by Wilson Compton of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, who said the rise in dependence was probably due at least partly to increases in the potency of pot over the past decade.
Also, the figures may indicate that baby boomers "bring their bad habits with them into old age," he said. The researchers said adults were considered marijuana abusers if repeated use of the drug hurt their ability to function at work, in school or in social situations, or created drug-related legal problems.
Drug users were considered dependent if they experienced increased tolerance of marijuana, used it compulsively and continued using it despite drug-related physical or psychological problems.
Overall use of the drug -- that is, casual use and habitual use -- remained stable at around 4 percent of adults.
"This study suggests that we need to develop ways to monitor the continued rise in marijuana abuse and dependence and strengthen existing prevention and intervention efforts," said Nora Volkow, the institute's director. Programs that target young black and Latino adults are particularly needed, she said.
Increases in dependence among young minorities may reflect their growing assimilation into sectors of white society where marijuana use is more accepted, Compton said.
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism contributed to the report.
What's not "becoming" are people who sneak back on the board after they've been banned. You're as bad as the reporters who wanted Bush to apologize for 9/11 instead of Al-Qaeda.
I'm still trying to figure out how the "Greatest Generation" didn't seem to have a clue what their "New Deal" was going to do to every generation to come.
Why would anyone trust you? Your arrogance is second only to your self-righteousness. I do not think most of us care what you have to say, as you say the same things over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over, and never seem to contribute anything new.
Go back to DU! We know you don't like hemp users. Get over it!
Consistency is not the same as truth!
You posit one truth, and and expect everyone to bow to you. Others have the truth.
It does not invalidate other peoples opinions, when you disagree with them. Yet, you insist on being the arbiter, and stoop to belittling and berating... Get over yourself!
By your own admission, your only interest in pot is making sure your kids never smoke it, and you don't have any particular scruples about what you'll do to make that happen. By your own rules of engagement, anything you post on the subject will be calculated to advance that agenda. Objectivity, veracity, or basis in fact are secondary considerations if they are considered at all.
Lies and the Lazy Reporters Who Repeat Them
On May 5, newspapers and news broadcasts around the country carried alarming stories about a new study of marijuana, published in that day's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. "Stronger marijuana makes more addicted," screamed the Los Angeles Daily News. "Abuse and dependence rise as pot becomes more potent," headlined the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Rising marijuana potency, the stories claimed, was leading more Americans to become addicted to the devil weed.
Small problem: The theory that pot that is more potent is getting people hooked is almost certainly wrong. But none of the newspaper stories gave the slightest hint that might be the case.
The government-funded study on which the stories were based, "Prevalence of Marijuana Use Disorders in the United States," was conducted by scientists from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. It compared survey data from 1991-92 to 2001-02, indicating an increase in marijuana "abuse" or "dependence," as defined by the DSM-IV, the American Psychiatric Association's official diagnostic manual for mental disorders. The study's authors hypothesized that the most likely cause for this increase is "increased marijuana potency." As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution story, picked up by the Daily News, put it, "It's not your parents' marijuana." Wire stories used by most other papers took roughly the same line, though in less shrill language.
None of these stories chose to mention a salient fact: The "potent pot" hypothesis is pure speculation. As Mitch Earleywine, University of Southern California associate professor of psychology and author of "Understanding Marijuana" (Oxford University Press, 2002) notes, there is no scientific evidence that marijuana that is more potent leads to greater levels of dependence. Indeed the JAMA article makes no claim that any such evidence exists.
Second, as the JAMA article notes, under DSM-IV criteria, people can be classified as marijuana "abusers" if they experience "legal problems related to marijuana use." The FBI Uniform Crime Reports arrest tabulations show that marijuana arrests skyrocketed from about 300,000 in 1991 to well over 700,000 in 2001. What may be simply the results of shifting law enforcement priorities were presented in both the study and in news reports as the dire effects of "potent pot." Strikingly, the JAMA article fails to identify which abuse/dependence criteria increased, and by how much.
That alone should have led an inquisitive reporter or two to ask if there might be an alternative explanation to the "potent pot" theory. But the journalists covering the story failed to ask this most basic question even though the study contained a giant red flag: The increased "abuse" occurred almost entirely among young blacks and Hispanics. There was no similar increase among whites in the same age group.
Young blacks and Hispanics have no special access to high-potency marijuana, and there is no evidence that THC affects black and Hispanic brains differently than those of whites. But people of color are well documented to be at disproportionate risk for arrest for drug crimes.
None of this was discussed in the Journal-Constitution story, or in the AP, Reuters and Scripps-Howard wire stories that were reprinted across the country. Indeed, what is striking about all of these stories is their similarity to the National Institute on Drug Abuse's press release. None of these esteemed newspapers or wire services chose to quote even a single expert or advocate skeptical of the government line. None of them seems to have considered the possibility that our government might spin the data in order to match its Drug War policies.
For shame.
Are you ignorant, or do you just play that on TV?
You are, apparently, the only one here, that is confused! This is not about Coke! (new or old!) The entire discussion is about hemp, and the idiots that persecute its users, for the chil'run's sake!!
So true, so true.
...and a good one, indeed. But, at this time, I am content with a wee bit of Glenmorangie single malt, and a fairly decent Don Asa churchill, from cigarsint'l... it's still 68 here in WV, and pleasant in the garden! I's a good evening for a smoke...
I'll look for the bong tomorrow! ...there might still be some scrapins...
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