The truth about marijuana.

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.

It assists in dividing, isolating and dumbing down America. I am in favor of legalizing pot but only if the people that smoke it will sign a waiver that I wont have to take care of their dumb ass when they fry their synapse and receptors with tax dollars. I already do but not by choice.

Add that they never have children. The harm inflicted on our kids while in the womb is staggering and can be seen by any elementary school teacher. The drug culture is a crime against children. It robs them of their true potential. All the talk about how it is an adults right to use drugs since they do not harm others is garbage.

This helps exlain why George Washington and Queen Victoria were crazy.

OBLIGATORY DISCLAIMER: I don't use drugs of any kind, I don't drink alcohol at all. My stongest recreational chemical is one cup of coffee per day. The above has been true for 30 years following a fairly beer-soaked college career. I don't advocate the use of any drugs including alcohol and believe that we would all be better off sober all the time BUT, I will never understand the need to put people in jail because of their vegetable preferences.

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.

Incredibly false. I've never seen anyone more motivated than a pothead making plans to obtain and smoke more pot.

Marijuanna is a naturally growing thing.

Actually, the cannabis plant is a naturally growing thing. But, marijuana requires human intervention.

The male plants must be sacrificed to prevent them from pollinating the female plant. When the female cannabis plant is unable to go to seed, the plant's buds continue to create resins, resulting in marijuana.

Why don't you admit your addiction to authoritarianism and your hopeless dependency on bogus science and bad arguments.

If this were 1939, you would watch Reefer Madness over and over, believing every hilarious stereotype and falsehood. If you were a teacher or counselor, you would show that movie to every kid under your control. That Anslinger guy would be your hero.
And btw, getting Ashcroft to resign was one of the best moves Bush has made, post election. Ashcroft thinks stopping dying patients in CA from smoking weed important enough to divert funds and manpower from ferreting out domestic terrorists.

From the Hazelden website www.hazelden.org:

The Hazelden Foundation invites you to join a growing number of people who are dedicating their time, energy and passion to improve public understanding of America's number one health problem: addiction to alcohol and other drugs.

On what basis are they claiming it is America's number one health problem? Is it a bigger problem than cancer and heart disease?

Also from the website: PUBLIC POLICIES TO IMPROVE ACCESS TO ADDICTION TREATMENT AND SUPPORT RECOVERY HELP:

Private health care insurance plans must cover treatment for addiction like they do other major chronic illnesses.

You want government to dictate that to private insurers? Wouldn't Hazelden stand to benefit handsomely from such a requirement?

Identify the problem before it is too late. Medical professionals must make screening for alcohol and other drug problems a routine part of every primary care and emergency room visit.

How about Hazelden and the government keep their big fat meddling noses from getting further involved in the doctor patient relationship?

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.

"Now" known...? When did you write this, 1969?

Whoa, benching 430lbs! Jeez! That's pretty hardcore. Keep up the good lifting!

As for the weed, it needs to get legalized. It's not the best thing in the world for you, but neither is drinking or smoking cigarettes or even using your cell phone. The nanny state needs to stop. If people can use something responsibily it should not be the role of the government to intervene.

Marijuanna is a naturally growing thing, something God made.

So is opium, Einstein.

We give people a lot more dangerous drugs than Marijuanna ALL THE TIME.

...that's to keep them from thinking for themselves. shhhhh!

I'm a scotch and water man myself, but I see very little difference between a joint and a drink. How can one be legal and the other not. Having said that, there is another problem arising from this. A company I worked for required a drug test for employment. After hiring you're subjected to random test with a zero tolerancy. The problem arises when this being a small town that the non pot-smoking labor force that can pass the drug test leaves them without enough employees to get the job done.

Hmmmmm.....exactly how does one tell a female pot plant from a male pot plant? I have a disease called plantar fibromatosis and had surgery on both feet to remove the plantar fascia. Nerve damage resulting from the operations (they had to dig out the tumors) has left me in near constant pain...Imagine having a Bic lighter lit under your foot all the time....I have a prescription for 180 Percocets for three months (2 a day) that helps me tolerate the pain but I have found cannabis a far superior drug for tolerating the pain. Besides... the hydrocodone stops up the plumbing.

My point is there are exceptions to every rule and what I do in the privacy of my own home should be no business of anyone else.

now...about differences between male and female pot plants, please ? :-) Living on a fixed income is not conducive to spending large amounts of money on my pain killer of choice.

"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?"

I concur.

This is not "yours" in a complete sense. This is mainly a compilation from other sources, a few of your opinions and a few stories from some of your purported "patients" (I say purported 'cause there is no way of knowing if you're really a psychiatric counselor) counselor, not facts. (or they're selective facts according to your perspective and your sources)
I believe it's imperative...
I believe such a claim is dangerously wrong.
Hazelden reports...
And on and on you go.
Go back and read the countless WOsD threads for some more information as to the "myths" of marijuana.
Please keep this in mind...If you get your information from people and places who make money off of keeping marijuana illegal what else do you expect them to say?
And if you don't "believe" that Hazelden gets Fed money well, wait to see if dead man Paul Wellstone's "The Drug and Alcohol Addiction Recovery Act of 2001" (S.595 107th Congress) [Status: 3/22/2001: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.] legislation passes...

Oh, you didn't know about Hazelden's Wellstone connections? Read on...Saying Yes to Drugs
Snip...The bill would direct hundreds of millions of insurance dollars a year into the month long inpatient programs on which Hazelden has built its reputation.
Snip...The Wellstone-Ramstad bill, which, if passed, would assure Hazelden's prosperity for years to come, will be the focus of attention at a congressional hearing on addiction on March 24th, at which Jim Ramstad, Paul Wellstone, and William Cope Moyers will testify.
You should mind who and where you get your info from.
It's called "a vested interest".

I am in favor of legalizing pot but only if the people that smoke it will sign a waiver that I wont have to take care of their dumb ass when they fry their synapse and receptors with tax dollars.
How ironic! If you've read my earlier reply then you'll see that there is a very real chance of your doing just that!
What do you think part of the "faith based initiative" is all about? Addiction treatment? And you're quoting in your "article" from one of the biggest potential beneficiaries of such initiatives!
BWAHAHAHAHA TOO funny!

"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"

Now take this same statement and replace marijuana with morphine.... Morphine is prescribed as needed....and it's contraindications & abuse dangers are legendary..... Why withhold Morphine or Marajuana from a dying cancer patient?

Who the hell is recommending marijuana or morphine use by kids? I'm addressing dying cancer patients that can't use Marinol due to nausea.... I smell a Red Herring again......

My Mom and Dad suffered from cancer and their nausea & pain could have been reduced....but due to the stigma.....relief was out of reach.

I certainly appreciate the problems associated with youth drug abuse...but this is a separate problem.... If one is to be true to the abuse argument, then why not outlaw all drugs with a potential for abuse?

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