Posted on 08/20/2014 10:40:32 AM PDT by ConservingFreedom
Like it or not, marijuana use has increased exponentially since President Nixon declared a war no drugs in 1971. Today, marijuana — or weed, pot, cannabis, Mary Jane — is the third most popular recreational drug in the United States, behind only alcohol and tobacco. Upward of 24 million people have used it, based on the latest estimates, with 14 million using it regularly. But despite a growing warmth toward the drug, and two states (Washington and Colorado) legalizing its recreational use, there are still some people on the fence about its safety and usefulness. So, to educate you nonbelievers out there, here are five marijuana myths debunked.
This may be the biggest farce cooked up by marijuana opponents, but it makes sense. People who have tried marijuana may eventually go on to try harder drugs in search of a stronger high, and their experimentation leads them down a dangerous path toward addiction. But the science behind whether or not this is true overwhelmingly shows that it’s not.
“Because it is the most widely used illicit drug, marijuana is predictably the first illicit drug most people encounter,” a report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) said. “In the sense that marijuana use typically precedes rather than follows initiation of other illicit drug use, it is indeed a ‘gateway’ drug. But because underage smoking and alcohol use typically precede marijuana use, marijuana is not the most common and is rarely the first ‘gateway’ to illicit drug use. There is no conclusive evidence that the drug effects of marijuana are causally linked to the subsequent abuse of other illicit drugs.”
So what is the cause of other illicit drug use? As the IOM report suggested, other studies have also implicated alcohol and tobacco use as gateway drugs. But an alternative gateway may just be the trials and tribulations some kids face while growing up. “Whether marijuana smokers go on to use other illicit drugs depends more on social factors like being exposed to stress and being unemployed — not so much whether they smoked a joint in the eighth grade,” Dr. Karen Van Gundy, an associate professor of sociology at the University of New Hampshire, told CBS News.
Although smoking weed won’t mess with a person’s body too much, it can cause a couple of the same issues that tobacco smokers experience, with the most likely one being respiratory problems. Ailments like bronchitis may sometimes develop as users inhale the tars from the rolling papers in joints and blunts. Because of this, eating marijuana-infused foods or smoking from a vaporizer, which heats the weed up just enough to release the THC (its active ingredient), may be healthier.
Smoking weed and getting behind the wheel is also relatively dangerous, with a number of studies this year finding that teens who drove while high were likely to get in crashes. One of the studies found that the number of people who crashed their cars while high tripled over the past 10 years. A person who drives while high can be up to two times more likely to crash. When accounting for teens only, another study concluded that a teen’s lack of driving experience paired with marijuana’s (or alcohol’s) effects led many teens to drive recklessly, even when not impaired, thus increasing their risk of a crash.
When it comes to more serious illnesses, marijuana may have more benefits than harms (we’ll get into that later). Despite a controversial study earlier this year suggesting it causes brain damage, other studies have shown no correlation, let alone cause. “Results indicated no significant effect of cannabis use on global neurocognitive performance,” one 2012 study said. Other opponents argue it can cause lung cancer, a condition not one study has found a link to yet.
With the majority of drugs being addicting — alcohol, tobacco, heroin, cocaine, etc — it’s easy to go ahead and say that marijuana’s addicting, too. But it’s a little more complex than that, and no, it’s not addicting. But users can develop a dependence, or a bad habit of lighting up. According to a 1994 study on the topic, however, only four percent of users develop this dependence. Compared to weed, alcohol and tobacco dependence was found among 14 and 24 percent of study participants. In a more recent study from 2007, only about nine percent of users developed dependency to the drug, whereas 15 and 24 percent of cocaine and heroin users went back again and again.
Breaking any habit can be really difficult, a recent study showed, but it’s possible with some dedication.
The stereotypical stoner is all too real, unfortunately. At 30 years old, he still lies in his parents’ home, unemployed, smoking weed in his room while playing video games. Although marijuana users may never get rid of the reputation of being lazy, some evidence points to it not affecting a person’s motivation at all.
But first, supporting evidence that it does get people lazy. A study from July looked at the brains of 19 users and measured concentrations of dopamine, the chemical linked to reward, pleasure, and motivation. They found that longtime and frequent users, who tended to have more THC in their bodies were also the ones who had lower levels of dopamine in their brains. The researchers suggested that marijuana could cause a controversial — and not entirely official condition — called “amotivational syndrome,” characterized by laziness.
But amotivational syndrome may affect other non-marijuana users just as much. One study published in the journal Psychology of Addictive Behaviors found that the syndrome affected about five to six percent of the population, both users and nonusers. These findings were later supported by another study, which also found there was no difference in motivation.
What it comes down to is, if you’re lazy when you smoke weed, you were probably lazy before, too.
To say marijuana has no possible health benefits is to deny hundreds, if not thousands, of pages' worth of proof. Simply looking at this Collective Evolution article will point you in the direction of 20 studies proving its cancer-fighting benefits. According to the National Cancer Institute, cannabinoids may inhibit tumor growth by causing cell death, blocking its growth, and blocking the development of blood vessels that aid in metastasis. These marijuana ingredients may also help reduce inflammation in the colon, reducing colon cancer risk, as well as killing some kinds of breast cancer cells. And that’s only cancer.
Marijuana has also been implicated in treating glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, PTSD, anxiety, and a host of other conditions. Its medical use has already been approved in 23 states, even as leading politicians begrudgingly admit its benefits.
As more states sign on for medical marijuana and local governments notice the revenue pulled from recreational weed — sales in Colorado are expected to reach $1 billion during this fiscal year — it’s likely to become a slippery slope toward the end of prohibition.
Oh Goodie. Our Number One Retread Troll Newbie is Back with his Daily Pro-Dope Message.
I concur and I don’t use the stuff.
This troll is so predictable... I’m in before he posts examples of some non pro-dope replies of his. And in before he answers a question with a question.
Lots of qualifiers and language in there to “soften” the impact of the pro-dopers
Then there’s this:
“only about nine percent of users developed dependency to the drug”
Gee, ONLY nine percent? Well that certainly makes it worth it. Even ONLY one percent is enough to avoid this crap. Stay away from it.
Eh. I’m a down the line conservative on pretty much every issue and I personally don’t see why marijuana is illegal. I have seen no evidence that it is worse than drinking or that it causes mass harm like heroin or cocaine. If it came to a vote in my state, I’d vote to legalize it.
If you're claiming I post a thread about 'dope' every day (or anywhere near that often) you're simply wrong: http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/by:conservingfreedom/index?tab=articles.
And I'm not "pro-dope" - I'll tell anyone who asks that (absent medical need) they're better off staying away from it, along with alcohol and tobacco. What I am is pro-ending-the-harms-of-pot-criminalization, most notably the enrichment of criminals.
Please share with us just how it is that others should decide for us what toxins we decide to ingest?
And while you are at it - please explain how if we are too stupid to make decisions for ourselves, how is it we are capable of making decisions for others?
I see.... so smoking dope is beneficial?...
AND Barry Obama is just a community organizer..
I won’t call you a troll, but you are immensely predictable on these threads as well.
It’s what makes pot threads on FR such good sport.
No one reads the articles unless it supports the position one already has, so it’s all about preaching to the choir and ad hominems.
Nice Straw Man, pal.
Suppose YOU tell us why you think its OK for children to have unlimited access to free pot.
Gee, ONLY nine percent? Well that certainly makes it worth it. Even ONLY one percent is enough to avoid this crap. Stay away from it.
I agree - along with alcohol and tobacco, for which "dependence was found among 14 and 24 percent of study participants."
I'm more anti-pot than pro-pot, but let's wait five years and see what happens in Colorado and Washington. More states will probably follow. I never believed pot was totally harmless like the enthusiasts claimed, but it's just too early to make any hard and fast pronouncements about the effects on the general population.
Take the lib position on dope if you like, But this is more than that. The very idea a retread troll is allowed to agitate is beyond me.
Are you in favor of removing all restrictions concerning all drugs? Nothing illegal and no prescriptions required? Remove all FDA certifications?
See post 4.
Gotcha.
Now. About your answering a question with a question. Go right ahead here....
I see.... so smoking dope is beneficial?...
<><><><
Do you favor creating laws that make all things that are not beneficial illegal?
Is that really your threshold for making things illegal, or is that reserved for MJ?
Suppose YOU tell us why you think its OK for children to have unlimited access to free pot.
Speaking of straw men, nobody said anything about "free pot."
Speaking of children, they report that they can get pot (which is illegal for all, except in a few states) more easily than beer or cigarettes (which are legal for adults). It appears that the most effective way to reduce access to marijuana by young people is harnessing the power of the market by legalizing for adults, so sellers have the potential loss of their legal adult market to discourage them from selling to minors.
The problem with all of these ‘studies’ is that they always mix apples and oranges, with an occasional watermelon thrown in.
Take a few unadulterated marijuana seeds, toss them into the ground, and come back in a few months. Roll those leaves up and smoke them. Yes people have being doing so for over a thousand years, with relatively minor if any negative results.
But do you think that is what is sold on the street? Hell no. Kids would refer to it as stink weed. Your throat would get sore before you could smoke enough of it to REALLY get high.
No, what is sold on the street is specially raised, processed, and doctored with who knows what to dramatically increase the potency. What are the possible harmful effects? Who the heck could know that, since nobody knows what’s been done to it in the first place!
Sorry, but it is EXACTLY like every other drug sold on the street - a total unknown. And people use it at their own risk.
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