Currently viewing the category: "Legalize Pot"

Weed is Benign

By On · Add Comment · In alcohol, Beckley Foundation, Legalize Pot, marijuana, tobacco

This is probably no surprise to you, but marijuana has been deemed less harmful than alcohol or tobacco. According to the Beckley Foundation, a research charity in Oxford, England, not only is marijuana relatively benign, but banning it has no impact on supply, and it turns users into criminals.

No surprise to me either, as I’ve been covering the marijuana debate for over a year now. The foundation reports that the number of deaths last year contributable to marijuana worldwide were two. Compared to the 150,000 deaths caused by alcohol and tobacco in Britain alone, the notion of keeping marijuana illegal seems absurd. But we still live in a Puritanical society. As pointed out by the foundation, it makes more sense to regulate the drug, as the ills society experiences are “the result of prohibition itself, particularly the social harms arising from arrest and imprisonment.”

Keeping marijuana illegal is baseless, and as it’s medicinal benefits continue to be uncovered, it seems foolish to keep up the prohibition. In the U.S. we manufacture and sell two of the most dangerous drugs on the planet–booze and tobacco–and they are subject to regulation. Even in the worst economic times, both products enjoy healthy sales. They are taxed heavily and generate millions of dollars in revenue. We should be doing the same with marijuana: Legalize it, regulate it, tax it, and stop wasting time and money prosecuting its use. Let’s get smart and move forward.

Super Duper Reefer

By On · Add Comment · In Legalize Pot, marijuana, potency, THC, University of Mississippi's Potency Monitoring Project

Will the madness ever end? The latest in the battle between the Just Say No!ers and Legalize Pot heads has opponents of marijuana use blazing: The potency of pot is peaking, they say, and this can lead to increased toxicity and mental impairment.

According to the latest analysis from the University of Mississippi’s Potency Monitoring Project (crazy where our money goes, isn’t it?), marijuana potency has increased over the last year to the highest level in more than 30 years. Maui Wowee!!! Researchers have found that the average amount of THC (the stuff that gets you high) reached 9.6 percent in 2007. Compare this to 1983 when it averaged just under 4 percent. 1983 was a bad year.

So I have to ask: is this supposed to be a bad thing? According to opponents, it is. John Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, says, “Marijuana potency has grown steeply over the past decade, with serious implications in particular for young people.” He cited the risk of psychological, cognitive and respiratory problems, and the potential for users to become dependent on drugs such as cocaine and heroin. Holy scheisse! Cocaine and heroin?

But leave it up to the Legalize Pot advocacy to fight b.s. with b.s. According to Dr. Mitch Earleywine, psychology professor at State University of New York in Albany, and trusted adviser for marijuana advocacy groups, marijuana users generally adjust to the level of potency and smoke it accordingly. He says in his most convincing b.s. bravado, “Stronger cannabis leads to less inhaled smoke.” Anybody else enjoying this as much as I am?

But the White House isn’t buying it. They point to the latest unsubstantiated claims that marijuana use can increase one’s risk for suffering depression and suicidal tendencies. Add to that the risk of developing other mental disorders, they say, and our nation is likely on the brink of moral collapse. Opponents gravest concerns are that higher THC contents are likely to increase addiction by triggering changes in the brain. Forget the scientific data to support these claims, they are inconveniently nonexistent.

Well, if I’ve said it once I’ll say it a thousand times: It’s gonna be a bloody battle between these two bovine scat slingers; and who’ll come out on top is anybodies guess. But I still think it’s pretty hard to defend the criminalization of marijuana use when a far more malignant mind-altering substance is legal and pretty much found everywhere. Add to that ethyl alcohol’s limited use medicinally and you’ve got to expect some resentment from the Rastafarian Resistance.


Whichever way you stand on this issue, I think we can all agree: If we are to judge marijuana in it’s proper context, then we probably need some cold hard facts, and not the baloney the anti-marijuana camp has been feeding us on rye bread.

You Better Believe It’s On

By On · Add Comment · In asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, Legalize Pot, lung damage, lung function, marijuana, medical marijuana, pot smoking, tobacco
This battle just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Marijuana, that killer weed, is in the news again. More health risks associated with pot smoking: A new studyshows that one joint causes the same amount of lung damage as 2.5 to five tobacco cigarettes.Researchers at the New Zealand Medical Research Institute used lung function tests, high-resolution X-rays and questionnaires to look at the lungs of pot smokers, tobacco smokers, and smokers of both marijuana and tobacco. What they found was that long term pot smokers developed asthma, bronchitis, obstruction of the large airways and excessive lung inflation just like tobacco smokers do. You don’t say? However, they found that marijuana smoking does not seem to increase the risk of developing emphysema.

Looks like we’re going to be seeing much more negative press about the ol’ Mary Jane over the next few weeks, months, or years(?). As I said in my earlier post, Dummy Weed?, this is a real battle between Legalize Pot/medical marijuana advocates and the “Just Say No” crew. It’s no surprise to me that a bevy of studies is now being released as things heat up around the legality of medical marijuana clinics. C’mon now, medical science has suddenly become this interested in the physiological effects of marijuana, even after forty years of mainstream use? I know, studies have been done consistently throughout the years, but mark my words, you’re going to hear more – much more – about this in the near future.

All this attention on marijuana, I think, is going to get people talking, and I think we’re on the verge of social change. As they say, there’s no such thing as bad press, and the times they are a-changin’, so stay tuned for more.

This Week’s Stupid Health News

For this week’s dumbest health story: Researchers at the University of Texas conducted an exhaustive study on the reasons people have sex and found the most common reason was: It Feels Good. No kidding? Glad to see the innovation at our Nation’s Universities continues to flourish. Can’t wait for more of the same:

  • Why People Drink Beer: It Gets Me Loopy
  • Why People Run to the Can: I Gotta Go
  • Why People Pick Their Noses: Big Boogers Bug

Now that’s money well spent.

Dummy Weed?

By On · Add Comment · In controlled substances, federal agents, legalization, Legalize Pot, Los Angeles, marijuana clinics, medical marijuana, meta-analysis, psychotic illnesses, respiratory function, schizophrenia
Medical marijuana is dominating the news again. Last week, Congress defeated a measure that would have prevented the U.S. government from blocking the use of medical marijuana in states that allow it. On the same day, Wednesday, July 26, 2007, federal agents raided 10 marijuana clinics in the Los Angeles area. Seems like this battle will continue to rage on.

On the one side, you’ve got medical marijuana activists, which are really Legalize Pot advocates, and on the other, the federal government, or in some people’s opinions, the moral majorists. Basically, the former group wants the legalization of what they consider a benign substance, while the latter believes that all controlled substances are a danger to society.

I find this an interesting debate because it almost seems silly that a substance like marijuana would be illegal when taken in context to liquor, tobacco, and pharmaceuticals, all of which are more physiologically harmful to the body (for a laugh you have just got to see what the man on the street says about it all). Along with that, consider the benefits the government would achieve through legalization, like taxation and control, you know, things governments typically care about. It’s not like it wouldn’t be lucrative. I mean, doesn’t Snoop Dog still live here?

On the flip side, the medical marijuana clinics aren’t helping their cause any by supplying healthy customers with pot. These “clinics” are exploiting gray areas to basically operate as legal drug dens. Hey, I’m the first one to say that we should legalize marijuana – prostitution too – but first we’ll have to overcome our deep-rooted puritanical mores. Until then, well, the law is the law.

What I find particularly hysterical is that opponents to marijuana legalization (I’m using the term opponents here loosely – please play along) are looking for anything to rationalize their position. They are feeling hard pressed to show that marijuana use is harmful, so the best they can come up with is that pot smokers may be at a higher risk for schizophrenia and other psychotic illnesses.

Let’s get serious here. First, these results come from a meta-analysis (a comparative study) of 35 studies done over the last 27 years and not a single clinically controlled study. This means that the conclusions have been extrapolated and are therefore not definitive, not at all. Further, we have no way of knowing whether the mental illnesses observed were due to marijuana use, or whether the mentally ill are more likely to smoke marijuana. Basically, this is a flawed study. Even the study’s authors admit that “it may be impossible to establish for sure whether cannabis causes psychosis on the basis of current methods.”

But wait; before you start thinking that there are no health risks associated with marijuana use, think again. Pot smoking is hard on the lungs, so it could affect respiratory function (increased coughs, asthma, and upper respiratory infections) and cardiovascular capacity. Interestingly, though, it does not increase one’s chances of developing lung cancer.

It has other physiological consequences too, like possible dizziness, confusion, light-headedness, racing heart, agitation, feeling of tenseness, dry mouth, increased appetite, and loss of coordination. Marijuana also has cognitive consequences like short term memory loss, paranoia, anxiety, interruption of linear memory (difficulty following a train of thought), altered sense of time, psychological dependence, and loss of motivation.

So don’t think that pot smoking is all just fun and games – it has its risks too. But as I’ve said before, compared to some other substances that are perfectly legal in this country, marijuana does seem a bit lite by comparison.

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