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  The Forbidden Herb - Is Ganja Bad For Your Health?
Posted by FoM on September 04, 2001 at 16:47:44 PT
By Eulalee Thompson 
Source: Jamaica Gleaner 

cannabis Just before setting out to sea, some Jamaican fishermen use ganja and they experience remarkable improvement in their vision when they are out on the high seas.

It was this chance observation of the herb's effect on vision, that led local scientist, Professor Manley West to team up with his colleague Dr. Albert Lockhart, to create the glaucoma treatment Canasol and more recently, Cantimol. Many studies indicate that the use of ganja is deeply steeped in the folk culture, sometimes taking on a mystical imagery.

Like the fishermen, a large proportion of people take ganja as tea or for smoking and they credit it with many healing properties.

It is not surprising, therefore, that in its wide public consultation, leading to the recommendation to decriminalise ganja for private, personal use, the National Commission on Ganja had personal testimonies ranging from 'miraculous-like cures to relief from simple colds' when ganja was used.

But the essential question is: 'Does ganja use negatively impact human health ?' There appears to be no controversy among medical experts on this issue; they say 'yes'. Ganja has medicinal properties that can be exploited and developed but recreational smoking can be bad for human health.

Ganja is no different from any other psychotropic drug in its physiological effect, said Dr. Winston Dawes, president of the Medical Association of Jamaica (MAJ). Furthermore, all kinds of smoking, he said, will negatively affect health.

"There is no clinical advantage from smoking it outside of some terminally-ill patients who use it for nausea and also for medicinal use like glaucoma. It is implicated in low birth weight in women who smoke and there is also a psychological aspect, a condition known as ganja psychosis, has been recognised in some people who are susceptible to it," he said.

Nevertheless, the MAJ supports the decriminalisation of ganja use accompanied by a massive educational drive on the risk and dangers of smoking. "If an individual still insist on smoking in the privacy of his home, then he shouldn't be arrested because people are allowed to smoke other harmful stuff such as cigarette," Dr. Dawes said.

"When a substance such as ganja is smoked, the chemicals in it are burnt and unstable metabolites ( or breakdown materials ) are created. Some of these metabolites are toxic and can stay for long periods of time in the body's tissues," said Dr. Winston Davidson, former chairman of the National Council on Drug Abuse ( NCDA ).

When the substance is burnt, the tar content, he said, is three or four times that found in cigarettes.

Dr. Davidson, who also supports the decriminalisation of ganja, said that not only smoking the herb will negatively impact health but also drinking 'ganja tea'.

"In the brewed tea, you have a more concentrated form of the psychoactive substance THC ( delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol )," he said.

THC is the most abundant of the 60 cannabinoids found in ganja. It is the THC that is rapidly absorbed into the blood stream when ganja is smoked. The Commission said that it is now recognised that THC interacts with a naturally occurring system in the body, known as the cannabinoid system. THC affects the body by acting upon the cannabinoid receptors: CB1 and CB2 receptors. CB1 receptors are found on nerve cells, in the brain, spinal cord and in some peripheral tissues. CB2 receptors are found mainly in the immune system and are not present in the brain. THC is believed to affect the brain's processing of information, memory, motivation and the experience of emotion.

Dr. Davidson said that some people are predisposed, even after first use, to develop acute ganja psychosis. This is a state of panic, a distortion of time and space. Ganja use can precipitate existing psychotic illnesses, he said.

Source: Jamaica Gleaner, The (Jamaica)
Author: Eulalee Thompson
Published: September 17, 2001
Copyright: 2001 The Gleaner Company Limited
Contact: feedback@jamaica-gleaner.com
Website: http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/

Related Articles:

Anti-Ganja Laws Archaic, Says Doctor
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10815.shtml

US Issues Ganja Warning
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10637.shtml

Decriminalise it, Says Ganja Commission
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10627.shtml

Jamaica: The Ganja Culture
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10439.shtml


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Comment #12 posted by Tom M. on September 05, 2001 at 23:50:30 PT:

We have a right to what we do to ourselves
BOTTOM LINE IS:
We have a right to pick a plant and smoke it if we so choose. What if daisies gave a high, are we going to make that illegal as well? People can drink as much as they want and start problems in families and society and that's ok. Ever heard of someone on dope getting mad and picking a fight because of it?? NO! Ever seen anyone hung over and sick and physically addicted to it?? NO! It's all about control. Control of what we do. Leave people the heck alone to enjoy their life the way they wish to. It helps with depression and apetite. It's our right!! Why don't you go after the pill-pushing doctors then if you feel drugs are so bad. Ever seen the side effects of some of the prescription drugs that they hand out to make themselves rich and the drug companies? BUT that's ok because you say so. That's the only reason! Bottom line, if I'm not hurting anyone else what do you care! Get off our backs and do something about the real crimes in our society you idiots. Leave the people alone that are out there busting their backs to make you rich. It's our only little enjoyment in life. It has always been the same in our society, the rich and powerful telling everyone else that they should live as they dictate since we weren't smart enough to be born with a silver spoon in our mouths to get the protection of high priced lawyers and give out the payoffs to do what we want as you do. LEAVE US ALONE!!!!!!!


[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #11 posted by Patrick on September 05, 2001 at 11:20:37 PT
Warning (cont.)
Warning: Smoking marijuana is hazardous to ones health. It can lead to no-knock storm trooper raids. Cronic use can result in FBI, DEA, and ATF lead bullets entering the brain in an effort to cure and rid the evil demon weed from ones body. Serious side effects include loss of property, life, liberty, and freedom. Pregnant women and mothers should avoid marijuana use as it may result in state sponsored kidnapping.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #10 posted by Sudaca on September 05, 2001 at 10:40:08 PT
Warning
Smoking Marihuana may prompt FBI killers to come for you.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #9 posted by CorvallisEric on September 05, 2001 at 04:08:01 PT
Dr Edell
For the original article in comment #5, try this link:

http://www.healthcentral.com/drdean/deanfulltexttopics.cfm?id=14275

That was from July 1999. We now know from new studies that marijuana is 17 times more ...
Just kidding.

I really like Dr. Edell's attitude about a lot of things - seldom really radical or overtly political, just good old common sense and the scientific method. He generally agrees with the conventional medicine, pharmaceutical company, etc. point of view, but has touted the medical benefits of cannabis. He has consistently opposed American drug policy.

We need friends wherever we can find them. But we especially need friends who are credible to the "straight" world.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #8 posted by chris williams on September 05, 2001 at 03:28:22 PT:

it is good but...
yes it has medicinal use and it gives you good feelings but come to think of it. you dont need to go through all that stress to enjoy yourself.besides from my own experience in the past,when i smoked it, i felt good but abnormal.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #7 posted by chris williams on September 05, 2001 at 03:26:41 PT:

it is good but...
yes it has medicinal use and it gives you good feelings but come to think of it. you dont need to go through all that stress to enjoy yourself.besides from my own experience in the past,when i smoked it, i felt good but abnormal.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #6 posted by Barroxic on September 04, 2001 at 23:20:27 PT
Smoking may be bad, but...
We all know that smoking hurts no matter what you are burning. What's the answer? Vaporizing! With a vaporizer, you aren't inhaling smoke! There is a lot more info than I can't type here. Go to www.vriptech.com for more information on vaporization.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #5 posted by Duzt on September 04, 2001 at 21:37:02 PT
Truth about Cannabis, tobacco and cancer
This is from Dr. Dean Edell's website.
http://www.healthcentral.com/centers/OneCenter.cfm?center=Marijuana&x=14&y=8

Haroon: There's such a big to-do about smoking and cancer, but people smoke marijuana and call that medicinal.

I was told that the heat from the smoke causes cancer among tobacco smokers. But then wouldn't smoking marijuana cause cancer, too?

Dr. Dean: Haroon, this is the big question about smoking. You'd think we'd know by now what part of it causes cancer, but we don't.

Some of the theories are tars, polonium, and, as you mentioned, the burning process.

The tars in cigarette smoke do contain known carcinogenic chemicals, but those chemicals don't really accumulate where lung cancer accumulates.

Polonium, which is radioactive, accumulates on tobacco leaves as a result of fertilizers. In a chronic smoker, polonium accumulates in the bronchial tree, which is also a location for cancer. If the fertilizer causes cancer, maybe non-fertilized tobacco would make a safe cigarette.

Burning vegetable matter also produces known carcinogens. But marijuana, which is certainly burning vegetable matter, doesn't seem to cause lung cancer.

You can see how difficult it is.

Burning materials, even the ones produced when we barbecue, create substances that cause cancer in laboratory animals. Those substances are more abundant in marijuana and hashish smoke than in tobacco smoke.

However, a cigarette smoker smokes 20 or 30 cigarettes a day; a marijuana smoker smokes one or two at the most. The quantity might be the difference between cancer and no cancer.

One of the main reasons we can't pinpoint what part of smoking causes cancer is that cigarette companies have a big secret. An incredible loophole in the law allows them not to disclose about 500 of the ingredients in cigarettes. Maybe the burning of one of those ingredients causes lung cancer. But we can't test it, because we don't know what it is.



[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #4 posted by Bill Oban on September 04, 2001 at 21:09:48 PT
FAKE FEAR
""Some of these metabolites are toxic and can stay for long periods of time in the body's tissues," said Dr. Winston Davidson, former chairman of the National Council on Drug Abuse ( NCDA )...When the substance is burnt, the tar content, he said, is three or four times that found in cigarettes.""

...bla bla bla FEAR bla bla FEAR bla bla....
it might have 3 or 4 times more tar, but it doesn't cause cancer, and it doesn't kill. Unlike LEGAL cigarettes!...cigarettes kill 400,000 a year! Marijuana has never killed anyone and it's not addictive and doesn't cause lung cancer! WHY is MARIJUANA ILLEGAL! WHY are we still living in the medival times!
Marijuana has been proven to shrink tumors, for GOD's SAKE!? What else do you want! Stop the insanity!


[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #3 posted by aocp on September 04, 2001 at 18:13:53 PT
Re: poisoned1500days
Ganja has medicinal properties that can be
exploited and developed but recreational smoking can
be bad for human health.

As you astutely noted, the whole damn article is
centered around smoking! Talk about not
exploring the alternatives. Besides, we've got seven
legal examples of the "harm" of smoking gov't schwagg
for decades and they all came up with a clean bill of
health. Oops.


[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #2 posted by lookinside on September 04, 2001 at 18:08:57 PT:

off subject...
after a very bad day at work...(caused in part by depression
over yesterdays events in michigan...) i came home to find
they had killed Rohm...i can't even begin to read the
articles about lighter subjects...

all my life i've tried to see all sides of an issue...i
rarely take a stand until it becomes very clear that one
side is very much in the wrong...

compromise is the solution to most problems...common ground
can usually be found if the opposing forces are willing to
talk...

our government is wrong...they will not compromise... the
U.S. government is the enemy of the people of the united
states and should be brought down...


[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #1 posted by Poisoned1500Days on September 04, 2001 at 18:04:21 PT
Irrelevent to edible form?
Personally I think the concerns
highlighted above are irrelevent
when cannabis is cooked and eaten.
I also feel that the eaten experience
compares to the smoked experience
the way an intergalactic trip on
board an incredible starship
compares to going to the 7/11
in your YUGO.


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