In Chicago, How Does The General Public Feel About Medicinal Marijuana? (Naperville: for sale, schools)

[reppin_the_847]

There are other ways of taking in the stuff that does not involve harmful smoke. For example, edible products & even liquid products that you can drink.

Originally Posted by linicx

There is no way I can say this without sounding rude. To fully understand how pot works and how people act with stoned you have to live with it, see it and hear the affects every day.

I have a problem with my grandson who tokes with his babies in his lap. He has not the brains of a gnat. His children have been sucking this smoke up since they were 3 days old and despite the fact the first one had lung problems. "Oh, it won't hurt." One is 5 and one is 2 years old. But it is only recreational use. He is irresponsible, can't hold a job, is self-centerd to the extreme. His recreational pot is more important than his children or supporting his children.

"It helps me relax." Run two miles, swim 20 laps in an olympic size pool, Put a speed bag in your garage (boxing) and work off your aggression, anger and tension, paint your house. You will be tired enough that you won't need pot and your mind will be clear when you wake up.

Sadly the grandson is not unusual. Recreational or not, pot is a chemical that affects the brain and indrectly affects behavior and rational thinking. I know the argument about tobacco. It does not cause erratic behaviour or fuzzy thinking; it's just plain dumb to smoke and I do it.

[Just1Fan]

Originally Posted by Chi-town Native

Morally speaking, why would society demonize a plant used for stress relief while we condone and encourage people to zone out on expensive drugs like Xanax for essentially the same thing?

I have a buddy who was a shrink, and the stories he'd tell of how these pharmaceutical companies are in bed with the medical industry is appalling. Stories of doctors getting chastised by their superiors because they weren't proscribing the latest & greatest drugs available, etc.

We've all seen the list of side-effects most new drugs can cause, so I'm not convinced that marijuana is worse and in fact it's probably better.

Then there's the social & economic justice aspect. I stumbled on this book below was pretty outraged at how fully intertwined the whole pharmaceutical industry and the War on Drugs is. Remember a quickly-covered topic in high school called the Opium Wars? You likely don't know the connection/timing between certain companies taking over the opium market and morphine and lucrative contracts with various militaries around the world. Back in the days of more hand-to-hand combat & trench warfare, morphine was in great demand and certain companies made more money than God.

The Strength of the Wolf: The Secret History of America's War on Drugs - Douglas Valentine

No, I agree

[linicx]

I just came off an indescribably horrible 14-year journey trapped in a controlled chaos called "Medicine". When I was able to visit my daughter I was in a fair share of Head shops. I believe I've seen most or all of the pot-ted products and a few it produced. Medically it is a good thing that provides relief for a wide variety of problems -especially end of life issues when doctors run of ideas.

I'm not terribly convinced by the high school coach who sells it, the elementary teacher that teaches stoned, or the sitting judge that has is own issues that it Maryjane is ready for national prime time yet - especially when pharma and hospitals have as much direct control over the doctor - patient office visit as it currently does. It is very difficult to find a real doctor; they are independent. Contracted doctors are helpless to do much except write a Rx, order tests, or send a patient to a hospital/nursing home. These doctors do NOT treat patients - they follow hospital protocol.

The 'fear factor' is the medical morass where good doctors are trapped. Great doctors jump ship to retire, or move to research, or their patient load is of sufficient size they don't need a hospital contract to feed their family.

On the other hand I watched a show that featured a California licensed pot dispensary. In '09 he paid almost one cool million in taxes for the privilege.

[jwaiter]

Originally Posted by reppin_the_847

There are other ways of taking in the stuff that does not involve harmful smoke. For example, edible products & even liquid products that you can drink.

First, where's the fun in that?

Second, a respected, long-term study on the effects of pot smoke found no lung damage to the users, pot smoke is not harmful.

[Just1Fan]

Originally Posted by jwaiter

First, where's the fun in that?

Second, a respected, long-term study on the effects of pot smoke found no lung damage to the users, pot smoke is not harmful.

How about addiction and/or dependence?

[OhAcid]

Originally Posted by Just1Fan

How about addiction and/or dependence?

Nonexistent.



From The Lancet .

High fructose corn syrup is more addictive and damaging in the long run than marijuana is.

[linicx]

But what about the brain?

[linicx]

I'm going to answer my own questions with a question. If researchers thought this in 2005, what two they think today?

BBC NEWS | Health | Marijuana affects blood vessels

[OhAcid]

Originally Posted by linicx

I'm going to answer my own questions with a question. If researchers thought this in 2005, what two they think today?

BBC NEWS | Health | Marijuana affects blood vessels

I have multiple problems with this article. For one, there is no access to any of the scientific data other than the claims of this Dr. Ronald Herning.

Research by a team at McGill University in Montreal has found that long-term cannabis users lose molecules called CB1 receptors in the brain's arteries.

Interesting. Sounds like a big deal; stop smoking pot or you'll lose molecules in your CB1 receptors in your brain's arteries!

Gafaw. Time to bring in some actual factuals.

Actually; a CB1 receptor is in fact a cannabinoid receptor. Not only that, but how exactly do you "lose molecules" (what does that even mean) specifically; how do you "lose molecules" called CB1 receptors (the cannabinoid receptor) in the brain's arteries?

In short, this paragraph says that long term cannabis use results in the loss of cannabinoid receptors. That's ironic. So smoking cannabis and THC results in the loss of receptors in the brain that specifically react to THC and like cannabinoid compounds?

The researchers tested 54 marijuana users, who smoked between two and 350 joints a week, and 18 non-smokers.

So out of 54 marijuana users; exactly how many smoked two joints a week and how many were smoking 50 a day (50*7=350)? That data is not included anywhere in the article. And yes; I'd say anybody who is smoking 50 joints a day would probably have some type of irregularity somewhere in their body.

Marijauna smokers had a faster blood flow, both at the start of the study, and after they had refrained from their habit for four weeks.

So marijuana smokers had the same blood flow prior to the experiment and post experiment meaning there was no change from smoking marijuana vs. abstaining from marijuana.

Researcher Dr Ronald Herning said: "The marijuana users had PI values that were somewhat higher than those of people with chronic high blood pressure and diabetes.

How much is "somewhat" - is it a significant amount or insignificant amount? Not only that, but are any of these 54 users diabetic or diagnosed with high blood pressure? That information would be helpful as well. It's also not provided.

He said it was also possible that using the drug may increase the risk of a stroke, which is caused by damage to the blood vessels in the brain.

Possible? And only "possible" that the drug "may increase" - not possible it will increase, possible that it "may" increase risk of a stroke. Another issue I have with this is that nowhere does the article mention there is damage being done to the blood vessels in the brain anywhere other than here. They speak of reduced blood flow, but reduced blood flow has nothing to do with damage. No different than only pulling halfway up on my kitchen faucet will result in reduced water flow; that doesn't mean my pipes are damaged.

"In the long-term one might see cognitive difficulties, such as problems with memory and thinking," he said.

Dr Herning told the BBC News website that if blood supply to the brain was reduced, then its cells would be starved of oxygen, and unable to function at full capacity.

False. Reduced blood flow does not equate cell necrosis. And if cell necrosis were occurring on a dangerous level; there would most definitely be signs both internal and external and this would not be an "if" statement.

There are case reports of strokes among young marijauna users.

That's because there are case reports of stroke among young people; many of which I'm sure do use marijuana. This "factoid" does not say there is a correlation between strokes and marijuana users. Only you're supposed to infer that evidently.

"This, coupled with the likelihood that marijuana uses are often also tobacco smokers, points to potential longterm risks for frequent users."

Interesting. They didn't mention whether or not any of these 54 marijuana users were also tobacco users or not however, did they? None the less, I'd assume so since marijuana users are "also" often tobacco smokers. That might explain some of the findings of this "study".


Time for Some Truth:

1. Marijuana (specifically THC) actually causes autophagy (self destruction) of cancerous cells in the brain.

1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology I, School of Biology, Complutense University, Madrid, Spain.
2Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red sobre Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED), Madrid, Spain.
33D Lab (Development, Differentiation, and Degeneration), Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiopathology, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Madrid, Spain.
4INSERM U624, Campus de Luminy, Marseille, France.
5National Institute for Infectious Diseases, IRCCS “L. Spallanzani,” Rome, Italy.
6Laboratory of Molecular Neuroembryology, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia and Department of Biology, University of Rome “Tor Vergata,” Rome, Italy.
7Cancer Genetics Program, Beth Israel Deaconess Cancer Center and Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
8Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital, Tenerife, Spain.

JCI - Cannabinoid action induces autophagy-mediated cell death through stimulation of ER stress in human glioma cells

2. Marijuana has been proven to fight Alzheimer's before onset and to stop progression.

A Molecular Link Between the Active Component of Marijuana and Alzheimer's Disease Pathology.

The diverse CB1 and CB2 receptor pharmacology of three plant cannabinoids:

Personally, I'll trust multiple doctors and studies who publish their work vs. someone who does an interview with BBC and doesn't share any of theirs. Especially since the only thing they "may" have proven is that high instance of marijuana use "may" reduce blood flow to the brain. Although they also fail to point out whether this actually has a correlation to more serious problems or not as well. That research also said absolutely nothing about the 18 non-users and their findings regarding that demographic compared to the others. Even more of a reason to toss that article into the garbage where it belongs.

[Just1Fan]

Originally Posted by OhAcid

Nonexistent.



From The Lancet .

High fructose corn syrup is more addictive and damaging in the long run than marijuana is.

Who would'a thunk it?