Posted on 04/09/2014 2:53:47 PM PDT by DannyTN
DENVER (MainStreet) — It's something Colorado's legalized marijuana industry did not want to see: a college student tried a cannabis edible product and inexplicably jumped to his death. ...
"There is a groundswell building to repeal it," he said. "It's going to continue to lose support because there are going to be more harms coming from it, large and small." ...
"Increasingly, we are contacted by parents, desperate to learn more," he writes on his blog. "Their typical and tragic messages go something like this: "We never knew. We thought marijuana wasn't even addictive and that it was less harmful than alcohol. Why did nobody tell us?"
...
Anecdotally, there've been a handful of exceptionally violent crimes in the news committed by known marijuana users having what appear to be psychotic episodes. For instance, Rudy Eugene, who made the news for chewing off a man's face, was found to have only marijuana in his system, according to the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner.
...
(Excerpt) Read more at mainstreet.com ...
There’s a reason I don’t smoke pot. It has nothing to do with legality. It sometimes causes paranoia. I learned from experience and didn’t like the stuff.
And that, along with my being against hard drug legalization, is an example why libertarians rejected me years ago even though many here thought I was a libertarian just because I turned against the GWB invade policy.
I don't fit any simple mold.
I favor reducing the age back to 18. It was 18 until I was around 10 or 11, I believe (1984 or ‘85 ?) and I thought it was unfair to jack the age up arbitrarily to 21. However, this needs to dovetail with getting rid of the 26th Amendment and returning the voting age to 21 (if not 25), with the exception being military, police/fire, etc. I think if faced with booze or the ballot, the kids would pick booze.
Those between 18-21 are being highly manipulated by the educational establishment and are often completely divorced from the reality of those whom are actively working (post-college). The reason for the 26th had more to do with pandering to a group that was opposed to being sent off to war, and now that we haven’t had an active draft in 40+ years, that’s no longer an issue.
I cant disagree more from my own perspective.
It was 18 when I was 18 and didn't turn to 21 until I was older than 21 and that meant that those a bunch of years younger than 18 were drinking with them even at 14 or 15.
I saw them.
Its called social circles. Girls normally socialize with older boys. Bad news at those ages.
Raising it to 21 raised all those years.
Yes, if it was 21 when I was 18 then I would have thought it unfair just like you to not be able to buy it. That's natural.
I should add, I say that as one that doesn’t drink and never really did (but liked having the option, if I so choose). Almost anything is going to be fraught with problems, but I think it’s silly that college-agers don’t have the legal option (as they’re already breaking the law en masse). Recognize in this instance that it’s happening and educate youngsters in the importance of moderation (yeah, that might sound silly, but there’s already too little personal responsibility enough going on now over 21).
The libertarians cant accept me for this
And yes, I fully understand why you felt it unfair that you had to wait to 21 to buy it.
FRIDAY, Jan. 6 (HealthDay News) — Smoking marijuana can mean different things to different people — for some, anxiety and paranoia can set in, while others mellow out.
Now, a unique brain scan study suggests two ingredients in pot may work independently to achieve these effects.
British scientists who watched the effects of the two marijuana ingredients -tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) — on the brains of 15 young men say the research shows how the drug can either ease or agitate the mind.
“People have polarized views about marijuana,” said study lead author Dr. Sagnik Bhattacharyya, a researcher in the department of psychosis studies at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London. “Some consider it to be essentially harmless but potentially useful as a treatment in a number of medical conditions, and others link it to potentially severe public health consequences in terms of mental health. This study explains why the truth is somewhere in between.”
The findings were published in the January issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.
According to Bhattacharyya’s team, it’s long been noted that cannabis can prompt the onset of psychotic symptoms, such as paranoia and/or delusional thinking, among otherwise healthy people.
“A number of studies have (also) clearly shown that regular marijuana or cannabis use in vulnerable individuals is associated with increased risk of developing psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia, where one loses contact with reality,” Bhattacharyya said.
Just how this occurs in the brain wasn’t understood.
New research helps explain why marijuana can provoke paranoia in some users.
Marijuana has an interesting effect on anxiety. Some report paranoia after using marijuana, while others report a reduction in anxiety. Now, scientists from Vanderbilt University have uncovered evidence that may explain marijuana’s complicated relationship with feeling anxious.
The findings, published March 5 in the journal Neuron, are the first to confirm that cannabinoid receptors are indeed present in the part of the brain that regulates anxiety and fear: the amygdala. Cannabinoid receptors are activated by chemicals in marijuana, called cannabinoids, and have been identified in many other brain regions as well.
Dr. Patel’s new study links marijuana directly to the area of the brain that regulates the fight-or-flight response. This response is part of the body’s overall process of reacting to factors of threat or stress.
But why certain people feel more anxious after using marijuana and others less is still unclear. The researchers used antibody-labeled imaging techniques to look at the activity of the body’s own cannabinoids, rather than those derived from the plant. Humans, and many animals, naturally produce a set of marijuana-like chemicals known as endocannabinoids.
http://www.leafscience.com/2014/03/07/study-explains-marijuana-makes-paranoid/
If there are two components of pot and one is “good” and the other “bad” then it’s not a simple question. But just like there is low erucic acid rapeseed, why couldn’t there be low-bad-trip pot?
I guess so yeah, but what I meant was don't use it heavily. Chronic, daily use is clearly very bad. My dad's tenant lost his job, we think because he was high on the job, then he stopped paying rent but of course could still afford the weed, cigarettes, liquor, and Direct TV.
And certainly the smoke is harmful, it's proponents say it's not as bad as tobacco, some experts say it's worse because it is indeed unfiltered and is smoked differently.
As for the drinking age, I philosophically just don't agree with drinking (or gambling for that matter) having a higher age threshold than every other right of adulthood. Just doesn't make sense to me.
I've been REALLY drunk only once, hated it. Not something I'd care to repeat.
Darren Gold, from Essex, smoked cannabis heavily for 12 years from the age of 15.
His drug use led him into a life of petty crime, filled with several periods in prison. He attributes much of what happened to him to cannabis use.
“I started smoking cannabis because I was desperately unhappy at school. I had a fantastic upbringing, and had great parents, but I was separated from all my friends when I went to secondary school, which made me lonely. Because I was going through puberty, I became even more depressed, and had very little self-confidence.
“Then I started hanging out with a group of kids who smoked and drank. When I was 15, one of my friends brought some cannabis to school. We smoked a joint, and I remember rolling around on the ground and laughing hysterically. All my problems disappeared. I wasn’t worried about anything any more. It was such a relief.
“I started smoking more and more because I wanted to keep feeling good. Within a week, I was smoking cannabis practically every day. I had to steal to fund my habit, but I didn’t care.
“All that cannabis I smoked has left me with a bit of a temper. That’s something I still have to discuss with my counsellor every now and then. The paranoia is still with me, but not to the same extent as before. But I doubt myself, even today. When I do something really good, I still tend to see the downside.
“Smoking cannabis played a huge part in what happened to me. But I don’t look back at what could, should or would have been. I don’t want to live in the past. I want to live for the future.
“I’ll continue to work at it. I’ve come a long way and turned my life around, and I’m pretty happy with that.”
http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/drugs/Pages/Cannabiscasestudy.aspx
Marijuana can impair thinking, memory and learning for weeks after use. It produces a range of psychological and physical effects that can be unpredictable at times. It can relieve pain, control nausea and increase appetite. Marijuana typically gives a high, or feeling of well being, which is why it abused. But marijuana can also cause acute psychosis, or a temporary break with reality. Marijuana-induced psychosis happens more often in new users or in people prone to mental illness.
Marijuana can cause short-term memory and learning problems, dry mouth, impaired motor skills and red eyes. Within minutes after smoking marijuana, the drug increases the user’s heart rate. Heart rates can double in some cases, which is a risk for people with certain heart conditions. Some people may feel relaxed after using marijuana; others may develop anxiety and paranoia. A person’s reaction to the drug partly depends on the individual, the strength of the marijuana used and whether the person ate or smoked the drug.
http://www.livescience.com/24558-marijuana-effects.html
Escapism of any sort can grow tragic.
Yeah, I ask a question and you just turn on the hellfire. That sounds a bit unbalanced itself.
I’ve NEVER had pot. But I do like to think I have reason and a bunch of unrelated agitprop isn’t a reason to abandon reason.
What hellfire? These articles say some people get paranoid while others become more relaxed. I don’t really care what anyone smokes, drinks, etc. as long as they stay off the road and don’t kill someone.
When I speculate about a “better” pot you just hang stuff off of it about how bad “current” pot is.
I’m in...
Anything that impairs your clear thinking and judgement is not good.
Even booze. I like my fine Bourbon or a cold beer as much as anyone else, but I don’t drink to excess.
The left depends on mentally f**ked-up people to keep them in power. The more they have, the longer they’re around.
“...I am on the fence on pot legalization...”
Well... on the one hand, what you (generic - not “you” specifically) decide to put in your body is your business. If you want to kill yourself with heroin or some other drug, by all means, do so, and deprive the gene pool of future stupidity.
On the other hand, do we really need MORE stoned idiots driving and creating hazards for other people just trying to get to work or home?
It’s already bad enough with drunks killing people on the road, in spite of the stiff penalties for drunk driving.
I’m not for it.
“...And certainly the smoke is harmful,...”
Second-hand pot smoke WILL give you a contact high. I played guitar in bands, in clubs, for years. I was exposed to that crap a lot, as well as cigarettes. Job hazard.
As far as being really drunk... yeah, I’ve been there a couple times myself. And being out of control is NOT something I enjoyed.
Self-control is a good thing, in all aspects of life. When you ingest things that alter that self-control, nothing good comes from it.
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