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.
Recreational drugs = Bad
Therapeutic drugs = Good
Two (2) separate issues....
1) abuse
2) treatment of illness
Now it's time for you to throw your fit...again....now call me names, make me write bad checks...kick me, hold your breath...kick your dog...but for God's sake do nothing to ease the pain of a loved one....not when the abuse factor is present.... Houston's MD Anderson hospital is filled with suffering cancer victims.... I pray you & your family are never more than visitors at one of these facilities.....
What "reference" would that be? If you mean the Schaefer Report, the Committe recommended de-criminalization, based on their review of the available evidence. It doesn't support the current scheduling. Moreover, the most damning evidence against the WoD is the treatment given the report and it's findings after it was released.
Nevertheless you cannot deny that its recommendations leave the Federal WODs in place.
This is not about easing the pain of a loved one. It is all about Soros' campaign to legalize ALL drugs. Medical marijuana just being the camel's nose under the tent (G. Soros).
Unfortunately, Madison's observations on the Commerce Clause stand in stark contrast to that. Schaefer was charged with investigating the pharmacology and effects of marijuana, not the constitutionality of the CSA.
I dont belive that "liberty" and "freedom" are completely synomonous and therefore could we not say that "liberty" in essence is one being "free from coercion"?
In the privacy of my own home I choose to have two martinis and a Xanax with my double bacon ultimate cheeseburger deluxe.
Then your reference has nothing to do with the legality of the Federal WOD's and cannot be used as a reference for that.
Man, this thread makes me want to fire up a phatty.
I didn't see that in the report. Please provide reference.
Talk about using other people's suffering for your own nefarious purposes...
Whatever. We now know that the report does not address the legality of the Federal WOD's and in fact the recommendations leave the Federal WOD's in place. Since they were addressing the efficacy of the existing laws, they must feel the Federal WOD's is effective.
I won't argue that booze is worse than pot in some respects, and never claimed that booze is more "virtous". My point is that it makes no sense to say "hey, this bad thing is legal, so this bad thing should be legal, too".
It has become clear to me with numerous examples that Long-Term (25-35 yrs) marijuanna use leads to "Bi-Polar" mental illness. I have seen the old hippies that hung on to near daily use of marijuanna since the 60's now in a real fix with this condition in about 80% of the cases. Don't casually disregard this phenomena.
I've seen the arguments that medical use may be OK, but recreational use should be verboten. The implicit assertion is that recreation and medical value are totally unrelated. Yet if you go to the doctor with symptoms of stress he may very well tell you that may you should think about getting a hobby.............
So I assume in your ideal world, alcohol would be illegal?
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
The powerful effects of pot use on the inability to reason is amazing! Thank you for the demonstration. :-)
So I assume in your ideal world, cocaine would be illegal?
you're right on with your comments - all of this righteousness irks me off.
On one hand we have some conservatives who claim daily that they want small government and freedom over their lives and on the other hand they shoot themselves in the foot by selectively choosing freedoms for the rest of us.
I am adressing the medical use of any and all drugs that reduce the suffering of the dying patient.... Would your allow your hatred of George Soros to stand between you and your ability to ease your dying wife's nausea and pain? To hell with Soros...I can't stand him...but that is a separate issue....
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