Posted on 11/05/2004 1:38:10 PM PST by Ahriman
A decade ago, when Daniele Piomelli went to scientific conferences, he was often the only researcher studying cannabinoids, the class of chemicals that give marijuana users a high. His work often drew sniggers and jokes; but not any more. At the recent annual Society for Neuroscience conference in San Diego last week, scientists delivered almost 200 papers on the subject.
Why all the attention? Many scientists believe marijuana-like drugs might be able to treat a wide range of diseases, far beyond the nausea and chronic pain typically treated with medical marijuana.
Researchers presented tantalising evidence that cannabinoid drugs can help treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease - Parkinson’s disease and obesity. Other researchers are studying whether the compounds can help victims of stroke and multiple sclerosis.
Although the chemicals work on the same area of the nervous system, the new drugs are much more refined and targeted than marijuana, with few of its side effects.
"Cannabinoids have a lot of pharmaceutical potential," says Piomelli, a neuroscientist at the University of California. "A lot of people are very excited."
Just a wild-a$$ed guess here, but could it be that they're not pursued with as much vigor?
That is a wild-a$$ed guess in the absence of any evidence for it.
As you suggesting that drug crimes are equivalent to murder, and that we should treat them as such?
No.
You want 63% closure on drug crimes? That can be done you know
Not at a price a free country should be willing to pay.
We don't know that your "fact" is a fact ... much less that any degree of reduction due to criminalization is worth the cost of creating high profits and channeling them into criminal hands.
>So it would logically follow that we do need one less substance to dumb down society and that criminalizing alcohol for adults would be a good policy. Problem is, that conclusion is false, and therefore so is your premise.<
It does NOT "logically follow" that "criminalizing alcohol for adults would be a good policy". Therefore, neither my conclusion or premise is false.
The concept that legalizing marijuana is an unnecessary and net negative societal impact, stands on its own.
Insisting that if we don't take that step, then we MUST roll back other societal 'net negatives', is a thought process void of logic.
I smoked month for a whole pot one night! Just followin' the little animals around. Stuned.
It's entirely logical; if the criterion for "X should be criminalized" is "X has societal 'net negatives'" then that's true whether X is marijuana or alcohol (or eating unhealthily or getting too little sleep).
Sorry if you are confused with scientific facts. Email me and I will try to explain it to you.
Wrong!
Marijuana IS criminalized. No change required.
Alcohol is NOT criminalized. No change required.
Wrong!
Marijuana IS criminalized. No change required.
Alcohol is NOT criminalized. No change required.
Now you're changing your argument, to "laws should remain as is." I guess that also applies to nearly-unrestricted abortion, and still-too-high tax rates?
No, I am straightening out your "should" vs. real world "is".
Societies "net negatives" will only be resolved in heaven.
That is no reason to choose to add to them.
If it's no reason to choose to add to them, then it's equally no reason to choose not to subtract from them. You've still provided no logical argument for keeping marijuana illegal but alcohol legal.
And you have yet to give any indication of what that alleged point was. Did you have one, ior do you just enjoy posting irrelevant hyperlinks?
Logic is not detectable to the smoke filled mind.
I don't think that knowing the effects on the human body of Marijuana use is beside the point of this thread.
Not endorsing or condemning.
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