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| How To Be Thin As A 'Weed' |
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Posted by FoM on June 11, 2001 at 07:36:22 PT By Leonard Greene Source: New York Post 
Marijuana may give you the munchies, but it won't make you fat, researchers say. According to a new study, regular marijuana users consume up to 40 percent more calories than nonusers - but are no more likely to pack on additional pounds. Researchers working for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta studied the dietary and nutritional habits of 11,000 marijuana users between the ages of 20 and 59. They found that pot smokers added calories through alcohol, salty snacks and cheese, but said the weed use did not mean extra weight. "Sparking an appetite would be good - if it was sparking the right kind of appetite," said Ellen Smit, assistant professor at the University of Buffalo Medical School and lead author of the study. "But we think alcohol accounts for the increased calories." Alcohol accounts for 6 percent of the total caloric intake of marijuana users, but only 3 percent of nonusers, she said. One possible reason that pot smokers don't pack on pounds, Smit said, is that marijuana increases a person's metabolic rate. But researchers are hardly endorsing lighting up. "We know little about the long-term effects of marijuana on the human body and other health behaviors associated with it," Smit said. Also, the research shows marijuana users are three times more likely to smoke tobacco cigarettes than are nonusers. Pot users also have lower levels of helpful antioxidants in their bloodstream, but most vitamin and mineral levels were normal. With Post Wire Services Source: New York Post (NY) Related Articles: This is Your Brain on Marijuana Nerves Need Marijuana-Like Substance Expanding Our Minds About Pot Natural Cannabis 'Better Than Extracts' Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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Comment #10 posted by JEFF SNYDER on June 11, 2001 at 15:55:57 PT:
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| Alcohol and tabacco are gateway drugs to those that want gateway drugs. I have a great idea, lets lock up a bunch of normal people and ruin their lives for no reason. How happy can you be? [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #9 posted by Toker00 on June 11, 2001 at 12:14:17 PT |
| is that there are a number of people, including myself, for which Cannabis is a much safer alternative to booze and tobacco. I stopped smoking cigs. and drinking alcohol for FIVE years when I had a steady connect. Peace. Realize, then Legalize. [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #8 posted by R.earing on June 11, 2001 at 10:03:24 PT:
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| Low levels of antioxidants in the blood? I thought that the basis for some of cannabis' therapeutic effects was the fact that some of the analogs WERE antioxidants.(I beleive the Israeli head trauma study implied that.They were testing some cannabis preparation that was used as a neural protectant in people with trauma.) -could the low level of antioxidants be related to recent smoking overwhelming the usual levels in the blood?(cig smoking lowers vit.c levels etc. -same process?) Anybody? [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #7 posted by Pontifex on June 11, 2001 at 09:55:33 PT:
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| Hmm, I should have paused to think. Who funds the CDCP? Hint: your tax dollars at work. This is hardly an independent, peer-reviewed study. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #6 posted by Rambler on June 11, 2001 at 09:23:19 PT |
| Another anecdotal gossipesque article with zero credibility,and wacko research [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #4 posted by Ethan Russo, MD on June 11, 2001 at 09:15:06 PT:
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| "We know little about the long-term effects of marijuana on the human body and other health behaviors associated with it," Smit said. This is an ignorant and inaccurate statement. There is plenty of chronic use data out there if you care to look. The answer is that cannabis smokers are like everyone else. I highly doubt that this obviously biased research used a representative cross section. It appears as simply more propaganda. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by Sudaca on June 11, 2001 at 09:14:19 PT |
| what's the point of these statstics? does it change the personal reality of anyone you know face to face? Do the stats mean that all pot smokers are the same, use pot the same, that pot takes over the minds of users and makes them all alike? Is it the same guy who is %66 more likely to smoke tobacco, the one who gets twice as much calories from alcohol, also the one who is %40 thinner? Is this endemic to the Canadian pot smokers between 20 and 60? All I get from this article is that "... researchers are hardly endorsing lighting up. "We know little about the long-term effects of marijuana on the human body and other health behaviors associated with it," Smit said. So we create statiscal data as ammunition for debates, which don't tell much but can be used in many creative ways. [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #2 posted by Pontifex on June 11, 2001 at 08:49:38 PT:
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| I don't doubt the veracity of this report, but I am disappointed in the findings. Pot smokers are THREE TIMES more likely to smoke How embarassing. Personally, I shun alcohol and Hey, wait a second -- maybe alcohol and tobacco are [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by FoM on June 11, 2001 at 08:09:53 PT |
| Court: Warrant Needed for Heat Sensor Author: Anne Gearan, Associated Press Writer Published: Monday June 11 10:48 AM ET WASHINGTON (AP) - Police violate the Constitution if they use a heat-sensing device to peer inside a home without a search warrant, the Supreme Court ruled Monday. An unusual lineup of five justices voted to bolster the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and threw out an Oregon man's conviction for growing marijuana. [ Post Comment ] |
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