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.
I don’t have my hand in your pocket, pal. I was just saying the government goons need to stay out of our lives. Whether it’s what we eat, drink or smoke.
I fully respect and support that right.
You appear to be a whiny little brat
You appear to be fond of personal attacks. Par for the Drug Warrior course.
It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters.
Absolutely - but nowhere does Burke say that "intemperate" means "disposed to do things of which DiogenesLamp disapproves."
That's exactly what relegalization for adults would achieve.
It's a bad thing for people because not everyone is mature enough or have proper guidance.
So our laws should impose on ALL adults the constraints appropriate for the least mature adults? THAT'S the liberal position.
Are robberies of liquor stores "violence associated with the sale of alcohol"? Are they a good argument against legal alcohol?
There is no other legitimate reason for you to bring up the problems caused by alcohol other than
Your reading comprehension is poor - the reason here clearly was to point out the weakness in Eva's major premise.
Opium didn't wipe out China in six months.
Learn some history: drugs were legal in the USA for much longer than six months.
But they never said government could make people moral.
Laws are not an effort to make people moral.
Then we agree that C.a.t.b.'s statement doesn't support any particular law.
Laws are there to deal with people who cause problems by not being moral.
The only problems that are the proper subject of government force are violations of individual rights - other problems are the province of church and community.
Not to mention that people's poor diets and sleep habits are also paid for in healthcare - do these 'conservatives' want government monitoring our fridges and setting our bedtimes?
Yes, stopping dopers from being a burden on society is exactly like the government spying on people's eating habits.
As far as the healthcare burden argument goes, it's the same one.
I'm objecting more to the feeding, clothing and sheltering the worthless dirt bags than I am about paying for the medical care.
Then your objection was irrelevant to the discussion at hand.
Do you have a source for this statement other than the DEA page that also says the addiction rate was LOWER in 1900?
You told me there were no good records from that time - so what's your evidence for this claim?
Oh, I dunno, how about the SALES RECORDS FOR COCAINE COLA?
How about the MILITARY RECORDS OF MEDICINES DISPENSED?
Neither of those demonstrate "problems" so they're not evidence for your claim.
I said there were no good records for YOUR claims
LOL! My claim is just the inverse of yours - and I have a DEA web page as evidence (albeit not a primary source).
Seems to me that anyone who loves pot that much is already smoking it, making legalization a moot point.
Oh, they are.
So legalization is a moot point as regards unemployability. Glad we agree on this.
And i've seen that statement from libertarians about a billion times, and it is utter crap as well.
Wrong as usual: http://www.casacolumbia.org/download/file/fid/640.
I don't have any interest in looking at your links. The world is full of libertarian nuts creating content
Libertarian nuts? "CASAColumbia informs Americans of the economic and social costs of addiction and risky substance use and its impact on their lives; assesses what works in prevention, treatment and disease management; and encourages every individual and institution to take responsibility to reduce these health problems." - http://www.casacolumbia.org/about
And that they didn't cause in the USA when legal.
Against.
And so why isn't THAT "Collectivist claptrap
Civil marriage is a positive act of government, unlike the passive refraining from violating liberties that I as a conservative advocate - and it's an act that doesn't create but merely recognizes an already existing societal institution, which has very rarely if ever in human history included same-sex couples.
"WAAAAAAAAAH!!!! They get Alcohol! I want my WEEEEEEEEEEDDDDDD!!!!!"
ROTFL! Which part of "It's not all or nothing" did you not understand?
So you're claiming that an unborn human is not a person?
Lots of things are bad for you, especially in your youth. According to some studies more than half population already has used the stuff, often in their youth. It’s going to be hard for that to go up.
I said consent to do whatever they want to do with their bodies Leroy. You’re just not consistent when it comes to government power.
Abortion is done to somebody else's body: the unborn baby's. Pot use is done only to one's own body.
What if the user is pregnant?
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