[Ken H]

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?

[Allosaurs_r_us]

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.

[69ConvertibleFirebird]

I believe it's imperative that our society understand the addictive nature of marijuana and its harmful side 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!!!

[Know your rights]

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.

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.

[lemura]

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.

[dljordan]

"The Hazelden Foundation, which runs treatment centers for chemical dependency". No financial incentive here is there?

[Delbert]

Funyuns Bump!

[Chieftain]

Good stuff here.

[april15Bendovr]

If you look at the symptoms of depression.

Depression

* Persistent sad, anxious, or "empty" mood

* Feelings of hopelessness, pessimism

* Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, helplessness

* Loss of interest or pleasure in hobbies and activities that were once enjoyed, including sex

* Decreased energy, fatigue, being "slowed down"

* Difficulty concentrating, remembering, making decisions

* Insomnia, early-morning awakening, or oversleeping

* Appetite and/or weight loss or overeating and weight gain

* Thoughts of death or suicide; suicide attempts

* Restlessness, irritability

* Persistent physical symptoms that do not respond to treatment, such as headaches, digestive disorders, and chronic pain

If you look at the Symptoms of Stress

* moody

* irritability

* depressed anxious

* lack of sense of humor

* abrasive

* hostile

* nervous

* emotional

If you look at the symptoms of Anxiety

* insomnia

* irritability or anger

* inability to concentrate

* fear of madness

* feeling unreal and not in control of your actions (depersonalisation)

These are all symptoms that a large population of our country experiences. I know how the stigma of mental health issues play into people actually getting help when they have these symptoms as issues.

Many people experience these symptoms at a very early age. While some people at a young age have found alcohol and marijuana as a social gig others have discovered a way to self medicate all of the symptoms above.

Many people come from stoic families that believe these symptoms are nothing but a weakness and perpetuate a stigma. I believe understanding these symptoms as a human condition. Understanding that is a strength and I admire people that accept help.

If people wish to escape reality I would like to remind folks its not just for recreational use.

[GSWarrior]

Marijuana cigarettes have 15 times more tar content than tobacco cigarettes and 50 percent more cancer-causing hydrocarbons than cigarettes.

A heavy smoker puts away 1 or 2 packs a day, or more....40+ cigarettes. Pot smokers don't consume nearly that amount do they, even if the above numbers are correct.

[lugsoul]

The truth about marijuana is that any article titled "The Truth About Marijuana" is bound to be full of lies and propaganda.

[the_unchosen_one]

The government has also stated that looking at a computer screen too long is bad for your eyes. Should we look for a law stating how long we can look at our computer screens??

[68 grunt]

You posted 'your truth' before. Drivel then, drivel now. Give it a break, you ain't the arbiter of truth.

[SBOinTX]

Have the author had no scientific training? Has no one ever told the author that correlation is not causation?

Marijuana scares me because I've seen the anti-social behavior that emerges from long-term use firsthand. Unfortunately, the author just made it clear that nurses are NOT scientists, and that scares me more than marijuana.

[Xenalyte]

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.

This guy has watched WAY too much Reefer Madness. Those aren't acts of desperation . . . those are acts of laziness. It's a lot easier to scrape the resin than it is to get in the car, go to the ATM, drive to your dealer's house, pick up the . . .

But I've said too much.

[Xenalyte]

Anecdotally, I can tell you that your conclusions are not borne out in the real world.

You may see some sickos, but I would posit that smokin' tha reefer is NOT why they're sickos.

If it were, all potheads would be sickos. Since not all potheads are in jail or treatment, and in fact the majority are gainfully employed, perhaps there's another common factor across your sicko set.

[AlGone2001]

The truth about marijuana is that as long as the libertarians continue to use its legalization as political fodder... they will still be the 1% party.

I hope they never figure it out.

[A_TN_VOL]

In 1979 I caught on fire, literally. Gasoline, 30% second and thirds, upper left half. Had skin graphs the whole 9 yards.

I spend 25 days in a burn unit. There was not a drug that the used that could stop the pain without rendering me unconscious. I was losing weight, having trouble eating, no appetite, no sleep. Out of desperation my better half brought me a pan of Panama Red Brownies (PRB). Once I began PRB treatments I cut out most of the pain drugs i.e. Plasadil (SP), Demerol, Morphine etc.

I needed to consume 5000+ calories a day to rebuild what the burns had destroyed. With the PRB I was able to keep a excellent appetite and ate like a horse. I ended up getting out two week earlier that what the doctors had estimated. They where amazed at my recovery time. I never did tell them about my PBR treatments.

Medical MJ Rules