Marijuana

[hammondjam]

Mr. Willy, I am not trying to get you to try or even endorse the use of marijuana. What I'm doing on this forum is trying to get people to learn THE TRUTH about the substance before making decisions. The hard part is getting people to understand that many of their "trusted" sources don't tell the real story. Many "official" sources don't really know the REAL story as research has been stifled by the government.

Check out this site. It's from people that have ben in the trenches fighting the so-called drug war.

http://yeson19.com/endorse/enforcement/text

Here's their homepage...

http://www.leap.cc/cms/index.php

Here's a guy that doesn't use or even like it(kind of a long read)...

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1598562/whats_so_wrong_with_pot_the_real_dangers.html?cat=71

My advice is to learn before you burn.

[mr.willy]

What I'm doing on this forum is trying to get people to learn THE TRUTH about the substance before making decisions.

hammondjam what do you think I'm trying to do and to say,  marijuana  does  have  bad health effects and has been proven by many experts in the medical field rather you want to believe it or not.

this is one subject hammondjam that we will never agree on  and I will continue to fight it but not if there is a medical use for it... ::O:

[Mr T]

But how will you know if they won't look for it or tell you if they find it?

[flybananas]

YOU KNOW

I was gonna mention LEAP.  that's LAW ENFORCEMENT AGAINST PROHIBITION


Now, if law enforcement realizes it's a STUPID WAR ON A STUPID PLANT then, why don't you Mr. Willy?  I think your anecdotes leave much to be desired.  WHAT else was going on with your niece and nephew?  just smoking pot and they decided to kill themselves?  everything else in their lives was JUST FINE?  only the marijuana inspired them to commit suicide?  doesn't make sense.

I don't mean to make light of your losses, but...  it doesn't compute that mj was the only thing that caused their suicide (or attempt).

[mr.willy]

I don't mean to make light of your losses, but...  it doesn't compute that mj was the only thing that caused their suicide (or attempt).

You have no Idea what your talking about and it's no wounder it doesn't compute to you. !!!!!

this is one subject hammondjam that we will never agree on   and I will continue to fight it but not if there is a medical use for it.

[Mr T]

Why do you say that marijuana caused the suicide and the attempts?   Did they leave notes?

[Sir Jeffrey]

I take pain illegal pills and I commit suicide. Did the pain pills cause me to commit suicide or was the reason I was taking pain pills contribute to the reason I committed suicide?

I also cannot see the correlation between someone that was a mj smoker and then that person happens to take their own life, the mj was was the reason for it. I guess it does not compute for me neither.

[mr.willy]

marijuana  does  have  bad health effects and has been proven by many experts in the medical field rather you want to believe it or not.

[mr.willy]

I will continue to fight it, but not if there is a medical use for it

[Mr T]

How will you know?  The AMA wants the DEA to remove marijuana from schedule one - no medical benefit - so that it can be experimented with,  to see if it has medical benefits.

The DEA won't unschedule 1 marijuana to see if it has medical benefits because it says it doesn't have any medical benefits so they won't let them look for medical benefits.

Where is the way out?  How can we ever find something if we are forbidden to look?

[mr.willy]

NIDA InfoFacts: Marijuana

PDF Version [412K]
  En Español



Marijuana is the most commonly abused illicit drug in the United States. It is a dry, shredded green and brown mix of flowers, stems, seeds, and leaves derived from the hemp plant Cannabis sativa. The main active chemical in marijuana is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol; THC for short.
How is Marijuana Abused?
Marijuana is usually smoked as a cigarette (joint) or in a pipe. It is also smoked in blunts, which are cigars that have been emptied of tobacco and refilled with marijuana. Since the blunt retains the tobacco leaf used to wrap the cigar, this mode of delivery combines marijuana's active ingredients with nicotine and other harmful chemicals. Marijuana can also be mixed in food or brewed as a tea. As a more concentrated, resinous form it is called hashish, and as a sticky black liquid, hash oil.* Marijuana smoke has a pungent and distinctive, usually sweet-and-sour odor.


How Does Marijuana Affect the Brain?
Scientists have learned a great deal about how THC acts in the brain to produce its many effects. When someone smokes marijuana, THC rapidly passes from the lungs into the bloodstream, which carries the chemical to the brain and other organs throughout the body.

THC acts upon specific sites in the brain, called cannabinoid receptors, kicking off a series of cellular reactions that ultimately lead to the "high" that users experience when they smoke marijuana. Some brain areas have many cannabinoid receptors; others have few or none. The highest density of cannabinoid receptors are found in parts of the brain that influence pleasure, memory, thoughts, concentration, sensory and time perception, and coordinated movement.1

Not surprisingly, marijuana intoxication can cause distorted perceptions, impaired coordination, difficulty in thinking and problem solving, and problems with learning and memory. Research has shown that marijuana's adverse impact on learning and memory can last for days or weeks after the acute effects of the drug wear off.2 As a result, someone who smokes marijuana every day may be functioning at a suboptimal intellectual level all of the time.

Research on the long-term effects of marijuana abuse indicates some changes in the brain similar to those seen after long-term abuse of other major drugs. For example, cannabinoid withdrawal in chronically exposed animals leads to an increase in the activation of the stress-response system3 and changes in the activity of nerve cells containing dopamine.4 Dopamine neurons are involved in the regulation of motivation and reward, and are directly or indirectly affected by all drugs of abuse.

Addictive Potential
Long-term marijuana abuse can lead to addiction; that is, compulsive drug seeking and abuse despite its known harmful effects upon social functioning in the context of family, school, work, and recreational activities. Long-term marijuana abusers trying to quit report irritability, sleeplessness, decreased appetite, anxiety, and drug craving, all of which make it difficult to quit. These withdrawal symptoms begin within about 1 day following abstinence, peak at 2–3 days, and subside within 1 or 2 weeks following drug cessation.5

Marijuana and Mental Health
A number of studies have shown an association between chronic marijuana use and increased rates of anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and schizophrenia. Some of these studies have shown age at first use to be a factor, where early use is a marker of vulnerability to later problems. However, at this time, it is not clear whether marijuana use causes mental problems, exacerbates them, or is used in attempt to self-medicate symptoms already in existence. Chronic marijuana use, especially in a very young person, may also be a marker of risk for mental illnesses, including addiction, stemming from genetic or environmental vulnerabilities, such as early exposure to stress or violence. At the present time, the strongest evidence links marijuana use and schizophrenia and/or related disorders.6 High doses of marijuana can produce an acute psychotic reaction; in addition, use of the drug may trigger the onset or relapse of schizophrenia in vulnerable individuals.

What Other Adverse Effect Does Marijuana Have on Health?
Effects on the Heart
Marijuana increases heart rate by 20–100 percent shortly after smoking; this effect can last up to 3 hours. In one study, it was estimated that marijuana users have a 4.8-fold increase in the risk of heart attack in the first hour after smoking the drug.7 This may be due to the increased heart rate as well as effects of marijuana on heart rhythms, causing palpitations and arrhythmias. This risk may be greater in aging populations or those with cardiac vulnerabilities.

Effects on the Lungs
Numerous studies have shown marijuana smoke to contain carcinogens and to be an irritant to the lungs. In fact, marijuana smoke contains 50–70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than does tobacco smoke. Marijuana users usually inhale more deeply and hold their breath longer than tobacco smokers do, which further increase the lungs' exposure to carcinogenic smoke. Marijuana smokers show dysregulated growth of epithelial cells in their lung tissue, which could lead to cancer;8 however, a recent case-controlled study found no positive associations between marijuana use and lung, upper respiratory, or upper digestive tract cancers.9 Thus, the link between marijuana smoking and these cancers remains unsubstantiated at this time.

Nonetheless, marijuana smokers can have many of the same respiratory problems as tobacco smokers, such as daily cough and phlegm production, more frequent acute chest illness, and a heightened risk of lung infections. A study of 450 individuals found that people who smoke marijuana frequently but do not smoke tobacco have more health problems and miss more days of work than nonsmokers.10 Many of the extra sick days among the marijuana smokers in the study were for respiratory illnesses.

Effects on Daily Life
Research clearly demonstrates that marijuana has the potential to cause problems in daily life or make a person's existing problems worse. In one study, heavy marijuana abusers reported that the drug impaired several important measures of life achievement including physical and mental health, cognitive abilities, social life, and career status.11 Several studies associate workers' marijuana smoking with increased absences, tardiness, accidents, workers' compensation claims, and job turnover.

What Treatment Options Exist?
Behavioral interventions, including cognitive behavioral therapy and motivational incentives (i.e., providing vouchers for goods or services to patients who remain abstinent) have shown efficacy in treating marijuana dependence. Although no medications are currently available, recent discoveries about the workings of the cannabinoid system offer promise for the development of medications to ease withdrawal, block the intoxicating effects of marijuana, and prevent relapse.

The latest treatment data indicate that in 2006 marijuana was the most common illicit drug of abuse and was responsible for about 16 percent (289,988) of all admissions to treatment facilities in the United States. Marijuana admissions were primarily male (73.8 percent), White (51.5 percent), and young (36.1 percent were in the 15–19 age range). Those in treatment for primary marijuana abuse had begun use at an early age: 56.2 percent had abused it by age 14 and 92.5 percent had abused it by age 18.**

How Widespread is Marijuana Abuse?
National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)***
According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, in 2007, 14.4 million Americans aged 12 or older used marijuana at least once in the month prior to being surveyed, which is similar to the 2006 rate. About 6,000 people a day in 2007 used marijuana for the first time—2.1 million Americans. Of these, 62.2 percent were under age 18.

Monitoring the Future Survey****
The Monitoring the Future survey indicates that marijuana use among 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-graders—which has shown a consistent decline since the mid-1990s—appears to have leveled off, with 10.9 percent of 8th-graders, 23.9 percent of 10th-graders, and 32.4 percent of 12th-graders reporting past-year use. Heightening the concern over this stabilization in use is the finding that, compared to last year, the proportion of 8th-graders who perceived smoking marijuana as harmful and the proportion who disapprove of the drug's use have decreased.



Percentage of 8th-Graders Who Have Used Marijuana:


  1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Lifetime 19.9% 23.1% 22.6% 22.2% 22.0% 20.3%  20.4%
Past Year 15.8 18.3 17.7 16.9 16.5 15.6 15.4
Past Month 9.1 11.3 10.2 9.7 9.7 9.1 9.2
Daily 0.8 1.5 1.1 1.1 1.4 1.3 1.3


  2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Lifetime 19.2% 17.5% 16.3% 16.5% 15.7% 14.2% 14.6%
Past Year 14.6 12.8 11.8 12.2 11.7 10.3 10.9
Past Month 8.3 7.5 6.4 6.6 6.5 5.7 5.8
Daily 1.2 1.0 0.8 1.0 1.0 0.8 0.9




Percentage of 10th-Graders Who Have Used Marijuana:


  1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Lifetime 34.1% 39.8% 42.3% 39.6%  40.9% 40.3% 40.1%
Past Year 28.7 33.6 34.8 31.1  32.1 32.2 32.7
Past Month 17.2 20.4 20.5 18.7 19.4 19.7 19.8
Daily 2.8 3.5 3.7 3.6  3.8 3.8 4.5


  2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Lifetime 38.7% 36.4% 35.1% 34.1% 31.8% 31.0% 29.9%
Past Year 30.3 28.2 27.5 26.6 25.2 24.6 23.9
Past Month 17.8 17.0 15.9 15.2 14.2 14.2 13.8
Daily 3.9 3.6 3.2 3.1 2.8 2.8 2.7




Percentage of 12th-Graders Who Have Used Marijuana


  1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Lifetime 41.7% 44.9% 49.6% 49.1% 49.7% 48.8% 49.0%
Past Year 34.7 35.8 38.5 37.5 37.8 36.5 37.0
Past Month 21.2 21.9 23.7 22.8 23.1 21.6 22.4
Daily 4.6 4.9 5.8 5.6 6.0 6.0 5.8


  2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Lifetime 47.8% 46.1% 45.7% 44.8% 42.3% 41.8% 42.6%
Past Year 36.2 34.9 34.3 33.6 31.5 31.7 32.4
Past Month 21.5 21.2 19.9 19.8 18.3 18.8 19.4
Daily 6.0 6.0 5.6 5.0 5.0 5.1 5.4


"Lifetime" refers to use at least once during a respondent's lifetime. "Past year" refers to use at least once during the year preceding an individual's response to the survey. "Past month" refers to use at least once during the 30 days preceding an individual's response to the survey.



http://drugabuse.gov/infofacts/marijuana.html

[Mr T]

Well, since you persist in ignoring my questions I guess I will post around you.

[hammondjam]

I was pretty sure that we would NOT agree on this subject before I ever answered your first post. You are dead set on making marijuana a big evil even though it isn't. If there are chemicals in marijuana that aren't good during the burning process, how many has it killed? Everything I read says NOBODY. The beneficial parts seem to outweigh the bad(if there are any). I'm over fifty and do not have ANY medical problems like COPD or immune deficeincies. I'm strong as a horse AND I have a long history of using the substsance in question. Maybe I'm Superman?

If dangerous chemicals being inhaled warrants a prohibition on the carrier substance, shouldn't we ban drive-thru banks, restaurants and even automobiles too. Exhaust WILL kill, you know!

Willy, do you support having law enforcement kicking in my door and taking me to jail while they sell my home on the auction block because I choose to use it occasionally? How does my use affect you or anybody? If your answer is yes then we have no more reason to discuss this. Keep that head firmly planted in sites that are there on purpose to scare folks that don't know. I'll be on the other side trying to find people more open to reason! My side is currently winning, BTW!  ::D:

[hammondjam]

Willy, Mr. T has asked you repeatedly why you are for prohibition. Why can't you answer HER? She's my wife, BTW, just so you know. She's not a black, male former bouncer and actor like some think.

Put it out there and try using your own words instead of your usual Reefer Madness sites!

[flybananas]

Oh, wow, i must've hit a nerve. No other "problems", right?

It was the ALL the two kids' fault for trying the "devil weed"?

Smoking mj does NOT a mental illness make. Mj was NOT the direct cause of suicide or attempted.

I'm not trying to be callous, just brutally honest. Mr Willy brought his family problems into the thread and it doesn't make sense.

oh, and yeah, I do know what i'm talking about.