Posted on 06/22/2011 11:34:42 PM PDT by AustralianConservative
Government Senator Marc Bean recently called for a debate on the merits of decriminalising drugs in the wake of a report from the Global Commission on Drug Policy. A distinguished panel that wrote the report said the war on drugs had failed and recommended partial legalization as a solution to the blight of the illegal drugs trade on communities around the world.
Not so fast, warn medics.
Side effects of marijuana can include a heightened risk of psychotic illnesses like schizophrenia, depression, damage to memory and judgement and heart problems. Neurologist Dr Keith Chiappa said: “The use of marijuana, especially in younger age groups, should not be encouraged by any legalisation and should continue to be discouraged by specific programmes.”
Consultant psychiatrist Dr Chantelle Simmons said: “Cannabis use has been shown to be associated with difficulties in thought processes in 15-20 year olds.
“When you have a young adult, whose brain is still developing, there is a five times greater risk of schizophrenia.”
“It particularly adversely affects the developing brain and it’s also closely associated with psychosis.”
The Mid Atlantic Wellness Institute doctor added: “As a clinician, I try to focus on medical implications only, but I would have concerns that decriminalization would send a message that it was okay to encourage marijuana use.”
Dr Simmons added that studies had shown that marijuana use caused higher rates of depressive illness in adult women – four times the rate of depression found in non-users.
Teenage marijuana smokers have also been found to be less likely to complete high school and more likely to make poor career and life choices.
Dr Simmons said: “People say ‘it’s only weed, it’s natural’. It is a natural substance, but it can have significant adverse effects. It can not only cause psychosis, but exacerbate existing phychoses.”
(Excerpt) Read more at bermudasun.bm ...
The same power the government is using to outlaw some drugs is the same power they are using to ban tansfats, sugars, and other things.
What constitutional authority does the goverment have in saying what we consume?
You can have my drill when you pry it from my cold, dead forehead...
Or as alexander_busek calls it, Tuesday night...
Got any more insults? As long as your wasting bandwidth, you might as well go big.
Insults?
Who made an insult?
You said “You forgot I’ve read the propganda manual.”
Obviously, I have no idea who you are or what you read.
That makes you the Poster-Boy for what Crim wants to do to his neighbors children.
That the best you’ve got?
You get what you paid for.
And considering you are probably a pothead, since you are for the legalization of marijuana with Barney frank and post like a lunatic...
I doubt you contributed a single dime to FR because potheads never have enough pot.
Did I make you cry?
Still pretty lame. Can’t you do better than “cheap, queer druggie”?
Well you brought up “wasting bandwidth” so that is why I wondered about contributions to FR.
I notice you are not disputing my post.
That’s a littel more creative, but not nearly enough for me to take the bait.
Half the legal over the counter remedies can kill you if overdone or combined with another substance such as alcohol.I remember being shocked when I actually read the little description of the sideeffects in the package and found out that a common pain-killer could destroy your liver if you drank alcohol.
The other half of them only cause serious side effects if not taken in moderation or as prescribed on the box. I remember I once took an over the counter ‘nerve’ pill and had a couple of drinks. The results were hallucinatons to the point where I had to be taken to a doctor.
And I’m not even going to all the side effects that are so glibly and speedily enumerated on advertisments for prescription drugs on TV. We don’t ban those drugs because they have side effects on a minority of those who take them.
Salt can kill you. Mother’s Milk can cause cancer. We don’t advocate putting these items into dangerous substance categories with penalties.
In the final analyss we can’t save everyone from every hazzard. While some studies show all the potential hazzards for heavy users, what are we talking about in actual numbers?
Our national conversation should be about a rational cost vs values analysis on the War on Drugs.
You can call it any name you like. To those of us in the scientific community, that's a basic foundation of real experimental science. You can make assumptions on two seperate pieces of data but unless you have unquestionable evidence with all relevant controls, you're not going to stay employed for too long. Unless, of course, your job is to cite uncorrelated, uncontrolled data to the media to push the government's agenda on people that don't think scientifically.
For example: Yes, less-intelligent students and people with mental illness are more likely to break rules and become addicted to nearly anything. This is an obvious correlation, but there is not a shred of evidence of causation that their activity caused the stupidity or illness. I often tutor elite high school students for their AP courses and maintain close relationships. When I ask them how many of their peers consume cannabis, the percentage is always high. The answer is always 1/4, 1/3 or 1/2 among kids in their elite class. These are the kids with weighted averages of over 100% and near-perfect attendance. Yes, there are always dropouts but they were behind since elementary school.
As a refugee from the USSR, I’ve researched government abuse nearly all my life. Cannabis prohibition was one of the greatest. I’ve read nearly every piece of published scientific literature and studied it in depth for 10+ years. Including having a library of rare pre-prohibition, pre-agenda articles/books. Not to mention receiving real-world input from people that actually use cannabis, addiction treatment personnel and law enforcement. To date, I have not seen a single scientifically satisfactory proof or even evidence that shows regular smoke-free cannabis consumption to be harmful in any way. I would be killed if I used such tainted evidence to declare a conclusion that impacted millions of people and hundreds of billions of dollars.
You, and many others, have been scammed. Just read the transcript of the 1937 senate debate to tax(backdoor ban) cannabis – the “scientific” lies highlighting its dangers would be laughed at today. Today, the lies are less funny and the reasons for the war are worse - 1) Erode the rights of liberty, property and privacy through false hysteria. 2) Create/maintain an artificial market for special interests to profit. 3) Create a huge black market to raise prices and take revenue at will. Legal cannabis could never be taxed at this level. 4) Prevent cannabis use from cutting into alcohol taxes. 5) Maintain the market for addictive synthetic and opium-based painkillers. 6) Allow anyone to be imprisoned and marked with a scarlet letter for simply possessing an easily palmed object. Yes, I have first-hand experience of law enforcement planting items.
No evidence is ever good enough for potheads: from brain scan imaging to potheads defecating in parks.
Show me what you keep referring to. We know very little definite information about the brain and the way most “brain scans” are presented is pure rubbish. In fact, the very idea of a “brain scan” was still under debate last I checked. There is a park down my block where high school kids have smoked for almost 40 years and I’ve never seen any poo. Where is this evidence that all smokers defecate themselves?
Then your understanding of scripture is wanting...Paul said he was among the saints with fear and trembling.
You misunderstand the fear of God....
Yeah, and the side effects of alcohol abuse?
Legalize the stuff and get the pot business out of the hands of criminals. Throw the (non-violent) pot offenders, in prison on mandatory sentences, out of the prison. Leave the beds open for REAL criminals...
I didn’t say it was harmless. Guns kill people but I wouldn’t prohibit them. Booze kills people but I wouldn’t prohibit it. Government isn’t a nanny and every time you guys find a “good reason” to use it as such I lose some more freedom. I quit taking the word of researchers, remeber AGW? I can cite just as much research that these people had mental issues before pot, I can cite research that pot smokers are lesss likely to have a car wreck, but I’d rather cite the Constitution, Bill of Rights and the ideas of freedom, to destroy yourself if so desired. Not to mention personal observation of facts on the ground. So once again if the guy selling pot didn’t sell other truly dangerous (not long term but each use) drugs most kids would never get to the bad stuff. To compare pot and speed is to compare a bb gun to a howitzer. My kids (4 of them 2 teens that are good students and pot free and 2 too young to know anything about it) know its bad for you. It used to be we taught our children, the war on drugs has just been an excuse for the state to. So I say its people like you that perpetuate the myth that a war on pot is worth fighting. People like you perpetuate the myth that pot heads need welfare dollars to live. People like you perpetuate the myth that if you sweep it under a rug, throw billions of dollars at it, sacrifice your rights and call it a war it will be ok. How about we privatize the war on pot and you people that think its a good idea and can be won pay for it. We, sorry you, seem to have forgotten you can’t fix stupid and you can’t dictate human nature.
No you misunderstand.
I was not speaking of scripture...I was speaking of God.
I don’t care what Paul said.
The only value I take from your scripture is found in the words written in red...in the New Testament.
I don’t need a go-between myself and my God.
You want faith out of political discussions? Do you know that you are on a conservative site?
“”The freedom to swing your arms stops at my nose, etc.”
Standard Libertarian principle.”
oh, I know it’s standard Libertarian principle.
But if you think you are as good a parent when stoned as when not you are in denial. Put down the dope and get real for your kids.
“I don’t have children but I could certainly take care of them. I can speak to friends who have raised fine, responsible adults who have never taken a dime from the taxpayers. In fact they contribute a lot of taxes from their successful businesses.”
If you think you can take care of kids, whether your own or someone else’s, while high, and do a good job, you are mistaken.
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