researched & written by Hoy So |
IS IT REALLY SUCH A BIG DEAL Marijuana is a drug, it can be abused and is not healthy for you. However, the same applies to tobacco and alcohol. "In
the last half of 2003, marijuana was the third most commonly abused
drug mentioned "One
study has indicated that an abuser's risk of heart attack more than
quadruples "...marijuana
smoke contains 50 to 70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than
does tobacco smoke. "...employees
who tested positive for marijuana on a pre-employment urine drug test These people back their claims: http://www.nida.nih.gov/Infofacts/marijuana.html
IT IS WHAT IT IS Marijuana affects your natural responses, your ability to react quickly, your short term memory and sense of time. It has a strong enough effect to, if not put you in the hospital yourself, cause you to do something that puts you there. It can greatly increase your risk of a heart attack and is even far unhealthier than tobacco smoke can be. It is also something that can greatly affect your employment or job. It is not a good habit, but then neither is alcohol, the leading cause of emergency hospital visits at almost four times that of marijuana, or tobacco, which loses hundreds and thousands of loyal customers to cancer each year. It has even been shown that marijuana does not increase your risk of getting head, neck, or lung cancers. It came as a shock to the researchers even, who were trying to show it did. "While
a clear increase in cancer risk was seen among cigarette smokers in
the study, no such association was seen for regular cannabis users.
Even very heavy, long-term marijuana users who had smoked more
than 22,000 joints over a lifetime seemed to have no greater risk
than infrequent marijuana users or nonusers. The findings surprised
the study’s researchers, who expected to see an increase in
cancer among people who smoked marijuana regularly in their youth." If
you scoff at Fox News than maybe you would rather us source WebMD
or the Washington Post: The harmful effects of marijuana may not always be permanently detrimental either. "...researchers
showed that the ability of a group of long-term heavy marijuana abusers
to recall words from a list remained impaired for a week after quitting,
but returned to normal within 4 weeks. Thus, some cognitive abilities
may be restored in individuals who quit smoking marijuana, even after
long-term heavy use."
DOES IT HAVE A GOOD SIDE? As for medical use, it has not been approved or even recognized by the Food & Drug Administration to have any. The FDA say no sound studies have supported it's medical use. Some states have passed voter referenda or legislative actions to allow doctors to recommend it as pain relief, but that does not mean it is a medically approved prescription, it is a voter proposed alternative. There is a distinction in results between pure pharmaceutical medication and inebriation. And despite these legal occurrences the numbers of those who smoke marijuana is actually dropping. The age at which kids start experimenting has steadily gotten older and the number of kids who start experimenting is getting smaller. The amounts of marijuana being seized by officials is even lessening, despite that some years more plants are seized than the previous. And if a lot of partakers did not even buy their own marijuana, how many do you suppose would start paying for it if they had too, or only smoke it because it happens to be available at the time. "According
to the 2004 NSDUH,
most users (55.1%) got the drug for free or shared someone else's
marijuana. Approximately 40% of marijuana users bought it."
THE DARK SIDE Although marijuana on it's own does not seem to be particularly worse than alcohol or tobacco, when combined with other drugs it can far exceed the effects of some of the worst. When laced with heroine, PCP or formaldehyde it can severely affect and destroy your short-term memory, your ability to recall and store information and your attention span. And although it strengthens hallucinations (which is the idea of mixing them) it also strengthens paranoia, aggression and rage. If these feelings and effects all stir together it can provoke and induce violent behavior. It can also kill you. "Cannabis
ranked among the 10 most common drugs in 16 cities, including Detroit
(74 deaths), Dallas (65), and Kansas City (63)... in metropolitan
areas that reported any marijuana in drug abuse deaths, an average
of 79 percent of those deaths involved marijuana and at least one
other substance." On top of that, marijuana is indeed getting more potent and stronger than it has been in years past. "The
rising prevalence of high potency marijuana is evidenced by a significant
(52.4%) increase in average potency of tested marijuana samples, from
5.34% THC to 8.14% THC within the past 5 years." But as for being a "Gateway Drug" there seems to be no concrete evidence proving it one way or the other. For some, it may be, but that would seem to be more of a personality trait, would it not? If someone is willing to try marijuana and break state and federal laws by possessing and smoking it as to get high from it they may just be of the personality type to break the law again, with other various drugs, that also get you high and "fucked up". "...62
percent of adults age 26 or older who initiated marijuana before they
were 15 years old reported that they had used cocaine in their lifetime.
More than 9 percent reported they had used heroin and 53.9 percent
reported non-medical use of psychotherapeutics. This compares to a
0.6 percent rate of lifetime use of cocaine, a 0.1 percent rate of
lifetime use of heroin and a 5.1 percent rate of lifetime non-medical
use of psychotherapeutics for those who never used marijuana." "A
recent study in New Zealand found that 99% of other illicit drug users
had previously used marijuana. However, a majority of marijuana users
studied (63%) did not progress to the use of other illicit drugs.
There is still no conclusive evidence that marijuana is, in fact,
a gateway drug, though it is clear that most illicit drug users have
experimented with marijuana at some point in time. Although marijuana
may not necessarily be a "gateway drug" for all users, its
use constitutes engagement in risky behavior and may set a pattern
for future behavior."
BULLSHIT When searching for information and studies yourself, or facing ones people throw in your face, you have to question their legitimacy. For example, marijuana.com denies almost all the findings made against marijuana. We tried to check their references, but they had none listed. There were reference numbers giving the appearance that the information they provided came from somewhere, but nowhere do they provide that information. If you can find it, send it to us!
OUR OVERALL CONCLUSION When mixed with other drugs, it can be very bad, but so can alcohol if you take it with prescription medications. It's effects on your lungs may not be softer than tobacco's but it does not increase your risk of cancer nor put you in the grave nearly to the extent that smoking tobacco will. Nor does it send you to the hospital as frequently as alcohol will put you there. In london people smoke it publicly, on the streets and around the town. It is not legal there either, but enforcement is more lax and their country is not falling to pieces because of it. Is it really such a big deal?
OTHER RESCOURCES TAPPED FOR THIS ARTICLE INCLUDE: http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/marijuana_myths_facts/index.html http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/drugfact/factsht/medical_marijuana.html |
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