da killer weed!
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.
This might be better though I screwed up the title
Marinol is cr*p. Marijuanna is a naturally growing thing, something God made. We give people a lot more dangerous drugs than Marijuanna ALL THE TIME.
I support medical marijuanna without question, and the legalization and taxation of marijuanna with some restrictions.
I think you did a fine job in making your case in this article. Good luck with the newsletter article.
Here we go again!
*grabs popcorn and settles in for the inevitable WoD thread flamewars to begin*
Ok. After long experience with marijuana in my youth, I am willing to concede that it is a) not "good" for you, and b) kids shouldn't be using it, period.
However, I am of the belief that an adult should be able to use it if they wish, for any reason they wish. I also say this about prostitution, gambling, homosex, prescription medications, motocycle helmets and seatbets, etc. etc. so that there is NO double standard here on my part.
Prohibition DOES NOT work, and just puts the $$$ in the hands of criminals. Just because something is dumb, illogical, personally dangerous, etc. does not mean it should be illegal.
ENOUGH already with the nanny-state attitudes.
Great article, so true. The only people who don't seem to get this are the users, who often insist it doesn't affect them when they use it in any negative way. Unfortunately, they can't see themselves as others see them.
I am torn on your comments. I believe the government should get out of the WOD business. Its a losing proposition, plus if you want you kill yourself slowly, its your call. Just don't expect somebody to bail your ass out if you make that choice. And if you hurt someone while using then the book should be thrown at you.
As a former user, I can really say nothing good about cheeb. I had a riot when I used, but also did some things that really were not positive. It makes you go broke, makes you underachieve, and the health and mental risks are not to be denied. I find it ironic that many of the same people who are so psychotic about banning tobacco are the same ones pressing for legalization of weed.
I was gonna write about this too............but marijuana makes nothing happen!
I was told that this article would have a hard time reaching people due to sounding to Art Linkletterish. You are right that when presenting the reality of the drug that sometimes information is a hard thing to read or hear if it is to close to home.
Yeah, MaryJane is bad for the kiddies. So is Mountain Dew, potatoe chips, Marlboro's and vodka. I didn't eat, drink, or smoke any of that stuff when I was young, mostly I still don't, and the result is that I am pretty dang healthy now at 58. I figure old age will get me before any degenerative diseases that I initiate now. So my question is if I want to smoke a joint why is it any of anybodies damn business?
This is a thin wedge to a much broader argument, and I don't have time to pursue it tonight. But I do think the drug culture has direct and significant impacts on character formation and, by extension, life outcomes and political orientations. Every habitual drug user I know, including the dopers who take the "it's only marijuana" line, is a lefty.
Yes, yes, I know: the libertarians are the exceptions to the rule, but as a broad proposition it holds.
Who are you?
Well, my main point was to say that Marinol is just chemical cr*p. My brother who died of AIDS was given it, and it did nothing for him. I'm not saying organic marijuanna would have saved him, and he was NEVER a smoker, but just I feel that Marinol is cr*p.
I smoke tabacco (I LOVE tobacco) and I drink beer (I LOVE beer), I used to smoke marijuanna, and I would smoke it anymore, shared some not too long ago as a matter of fact. But I don't think I could ever have been described as a real pot-head, I always found it easy to keep that under control.
I do NOT favor the legalization of all drugs, but I DO favor the legalization of pot. And I also think common sense alone indicates that pot should be available where medically helpful.
And I will say this, american society is getting too silly. The puritan half that wants no smoking/no drinking/no drugging is sharing the stage with the corporate/medical half that wants us all on prozac/cialis/viagra/ritalin.
Can we spell hyporcrasy? because I can't!
Like what?
=D
That's gotta suck. What is your point on pot - again?
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