Posted on 11/21/2004 9:15:23 PM PST by april15Bendovr
The truth about marijuana. Me
Posted on 11/21/2004 9:00:46 PM PST by april15Bendovr
I was asked to write this for my hospital newsletter. I hope it will help people here to understand a little bit better.
The truth about marijuana As a psychiatric counselor, many clients report to me that at an early age they suffered from anxiety, stress, agitation and depression. In an effort to avoid or treat their problems, many decided to medicate themselves with alcohol, marijuana or other street drugs. And while the problems of alcohol addiction are well-known, there is a popular myth that marijuana is an innocuous and harmless drug. Unfortunately, marijuana's addictive repercussions can be just as devastating as alcohol.
The Hazelden Foundation, which runs treatment centers for chemical dependency, has produced an educational documentary videotape titled "Marijuana, the Escape to Nowhere," about addictive issues, side effects and marijuana's use as a mood altering substance. Participants in the video report resorting to acts of desperation, such as scraping bongs and pot pipes and pulling their bedroom dresser out from the wall, to retrieve just enough marijuana to give them their next high. Many of my clients as a psychiatric counselor have recounted the same kinds of behavior.
I believe it's imperative that our society understand the addictive nature of marijuana and its harmful side effects. The drug has gained support from people with various ailments who praise the drug for its potential use in treating pain and nausea medically. Although there's a synthetic prescription pill developed for this purpose (Marinol), advocates for smoking the leaf continue to push for marijuana cigarette legalization. Advocates also argue that pot has few and short-term--side effects, if any. I believe such a claim is dangerously wrong.
In Oldsmobile car ads, the slogan was: "It's not your father's Oldsmobile." Well, the same can be said for marijuana today. Hazelden reports the amount of THC (the main active chemical) in marijuana has increased 5 times since 1974, with the typical strength today being 15 percent. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Intelligence Division December Report 2000 states that a form of marijuana called BC Bud (British Columbia), with Canadian growers using sophisticated cultivating techniques, has increased THC levels from 15 percent to 25 percent, compared with 2 percent in 1970.
There's evidence to support claims of long-term damage. Studies referenced in the Hazelden booklet "Marijuana: Current Facts, Figures and Information," by Brent Q. Hafen, Ph.D., and David Soulier, show long-term and permanent damage. This book cites research using instruments to trace brain waves, showing slight changes in the brain's electrical activity from marijuana use. Other studies cited in the book, using electrodes placed deep inside the brain stem, showed that the effects of marijuana use lingered. Researchers at Tulane University studied long-term effects, revealing damage to brain cells and nerve synapses in monkeys. A 2-month to 5-year study at the University of California Davis revealed, via CAT scan, damage to the brains of monkeys from long-term use.
Visual signs of long-term pot smoking are poor motor coordination, uncontrolled laughter, a lag or hesitation between thoughts, and unsteady hands. At one time, these were all thought to be short-term side effects--now known in many cases to be long-term with frequent use, according to a 1968 study by researchers W.H. McGlothin and L.J. West, published in the Hazelden booklet mentioned above. Other linked side effects include a symptom called amotivational syndrome, in which people become passive, apathetic, unmotivated, hedonistic, unconcerned about the future, unable to make plans and increasingly introverted.
A marijuana information fact sheet from the National Institute on Drug Abuse states that THC kicks off a series of cellular reactions that lead to the high after smoking. It rapidly passes from the lungs into the bloodstream, which carries the chemical to organs throughout the body, including the brain. THC travels inside the brain, where it connects with THC receptors on nerve cells. The areas of the brain with the most THC receptors are the cerebellum, the cerebral cortex, and the limbic system, which includes the hippocampus. This is why marijuana affects thinking, problem solving, sensory perception, movement, balance and memory. (For a more detailed image of the brain and acute side effects of marijuana, visit www.drugabuse.gov/ResearchReports/marijuana/marijuana3.html.
In 2001, 12 million Americans aged 12 and older used marijuana at least once in the month prior to being surveyed by the National Institute on Drug Abuse in its 2001 Monitoring the Future Surveys. Students who smoke pot get lower grades and are less likely to graduate from high school compared with their non-smoking peers. Researchers studying the survey compared test results of marijuana-smoking 12th graders and non-smokers; in standardized tests of verbal and mathematical skills, the pot smokers scored significantly lower. The same NIDA Monitoring the Future survey of 129 college students found that someone who smokes pot once daily may be functioning at a reduced intellectual level all of the time.
Other Hazelden-reported side effects include damage to the lungs: Marijuana cigarettes have 15 times more tar content than tobacco cigarettes and 50 percent more cancer-causing hydrocarbons than cigarettes. Liver biopsies of long-term marijuana users show significant damage. It effects the heart due to reduced oxygen to the blood stream. It causes cell damage--tests on animals show changes in gene structure. These effects are becoming more apparent to the public. Information in the National Institute on Drug Abuse marijuana fact sheet shows that marijuana-related hospital emergency department visits in the United States recently experienced a 15 percent increase.
If all these negatives are not enough, I recently discovered more: On Nov. 23, 2002, The British Journal of Medicine published a study linking frequent marijuana use at a young age to an increased risk of depression and schizophrenia later in life.
Without knowledge, education, and an understanding of the problems and myths of marijuana, it is dangerous to advocate for such a drug. If we do not discourage vulnerable young people from using marijuana, the future could be very grim for our country. With the increase of THC levels and the apathy about marijuana, I unfortunately see a preview of that future and fear more mental health and overall health problems as a result.
Fair enough.... Using this logic, God did not create any of the drugs we utilize to ease suffering or save lives.....right? Solutions always have a downside. Our delima is how we reduce downside effects and at the same time benefit from the positive effects.
Uh, oh... You're in big Freeper doo-doo now! The most viscous Freepers are the pot smoking ones. Prepare to be ripped a new one!!!
Then pray that the Freeper druggies get past their desperate need for mind altering drugs. Life is good! Don't let it go by while on drugs!!!
I just do not understand the hostility associated with the quest for treatment of cancer.....when that treatment includes cannabis. Morphine is OK...right? Legitimate treatment for a disease and abuse must be addressed separately. The fact remains that most drugs used to ease the suffering of a dying patient have the potential of abuse. Can't we separate abuse from legitimate treatment? Why does this raise such strong emotions?
The pothead druggie has no relationship to the patient regurgitating and writhing in pain.
The side many don't want to see is the business end.
ANOTHER BS statement from you! Currently, just like in the days of alcohol prohibition, the criminal element makes money off of illegal drugs. LOTS of money.
To make it legal would mean it would have to have a filter on it with a lower THC content.
I can't believe you're spouting this nonsense. Why buy cheap goods when you can get good goods. Do you buy Lowenbrau or Milwaulkee's Best beer? Marlboros or Main Street cigarettes?
...according to a 1968 study...
O M G! Get up to date, PLEASE!
While your there please learn something please and stop making me do your homework.
You need to do a little homework yourself!
One sees similarly desperate behavior to get alcohol in environments where that drug is illegal ... in prison, they drink fruit peelings fermented under radiators. It's the illegality, not the drug.
Information in the National Institute on Drug Abuse marijuana fact sheet shows that marijuana-related hospital emergency department visits in the United States recently experienced a 15 percent increase.
"marijuana-related" means they asked the patient if they'd smoked marijuana recently and they said yes. By this standard, 100% of hospital emergency department visits are oxygen-related.
On Nov. 23, 2002, The British Journal of Medicine published a study linking frequent marijuana use at a young age to an increased risk of depression and schizophrenia later in life.
Linkage is not causation; no such study has ever ruled out the plausible alternative explanation that those predisposed to depression and schizophrenia are also predisposed to use drugs (perhaps as attempted self-medication). The number one schizophrenia-linked drug is alcohol.
Well, there's always the Schafer Commission report, but it seems that rather conveniently no one can find a copy of that anymore.
Oh, this is so, so, silly! I don't understand the hostility towards people who don't want their children enticed into using mind altering drugs for fun and pleasure. These casual drug users are often times so angry and hostile. I do hope that they get the help that they need.....
Not much, but more. A more interesting question is why you can't find the report anywhere.
Maybe someone realized that it wasn't worth the paper is was printed in?
That would depend on what you wanted to use it for. Value is a measure of utility.
You might want to do a little research on the findings of that study before you start making blanket assertions. Hint: it was a government commissioned study, and it's virtually impossible to find a copy.
Nice ad hominem. Can you really not understand that there are reasons to oppose the WOD other than "I want to get high"? Are Milton Friedman and William F Buckley just a couple of stoners?
What's up with this discussion about pot? That's so 70s (and 80s & 90s). The big play now is caffeine addiction: I'm on day 5 going cold turkey and I'm getting the headaches, muscle aches, etc. I swear I'm going on the Mormon diet after this. No more drugs, alcohol (well, maybe a beer), coffee, Coke for me.
ref: your post #3; I agree wholeheartedly. And anything put out by Hazelden must be viewed as them having a vested interest in the "addiction counseling mill/industry" because obviously, dude, they do!
The Capt.
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