cannabisnews.com: Can We Handle the Truth about Marijuana? Can We Handle the Truth about Marijuana? Posted by FoM on February 01, 2000 at 21:35:35 PT Comment By Richard Lake Source: Mother Jones This advertisement appears in the current issue of Mother Jones. It is part of a continuing series of ads published by the Common Sense for Drug Policy Foundation. The full page ads are easily copied - thus making excellent handouts. This text version does not do the ad justice. A better representation of this ad, and the others in the series, may be found at: http://www.csdp.org/ads/ MYTH: Marijuana is a gateway drug.FACT: For every 104 people who have used marijuana, there is only one regular user of cocaine and less than one heroin addict. (1) MYTH: Marijuana is addictive.FACT: Less than one percent of people who consume marijuana do so on a daily or near daily basis. An even smaller minority develop dependence on marijuana. Withdrawal symptoms, if experienced at all, are mild. (2) MYTH: Marijuana lowers motivation.FACT: For twenty five years, researchers have searched for a marijuana- induced amotivational syndrome and have failed to find it. Of course, people who are constantly intoxicated, no matter what the drug, are not likely to be productive. (3)MYTH: Higher concentrations of THC make marijuana more dangerous. FACT: There is no possibility of a fatal overdose from smoking marijuana, regardless of potency. High potency marijuana may be less harmful to the lungs because people can use less to achieve the desired effects. (4) MYTH: Marijuana causes brain damageFACT: No medical test used to determine brain damage has indicated brain damage in humans who use marijuana - even after long-term use. (5) SO, WHY DID WE ARREST 642,000 AMERICANS LAST YEAR FOR MARIJUANA OFFENCES? SOURCES: (1) Department of HHS, National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 1997. (2) Department of HHS, National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 1997; Jones, r.t. et al, "Clinical Relevance of Cannabis Tolerance and Dependence," Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 21:143-526 (1981). (3) Pope, H.G. et al, "Drug Use and Life Style Among College Undergraduates in 1989: A Comparison With 1969 and 1978,: American Journal of Psychiatry 147:998-001 (1990); Kandel, D. et al, "The Impact of Drug Use on Earnings; A Life-Span Perspective," Social Forces 74:243-270 (1995). (4) Department of Health and Human Services, "Marijuana and the Cannabinoids," pp., 131-44 in Drug Abuse and Drug Abuse Research, third Triennial Report to Congress from the Secretary (1991). (5) Hannerz, l and Hindmarsh, T. "Neurological and Neuroradiological Examination of Chronic Cannabis Smokers," Annals of Neurology 13:207-10 (1983); Stuve, F.A. and Straumania, J.J., "Electroencephalographic and Evoked Potential Methods in Human Marijuana Research Historical Review and Future Trends," Drug Development Research 20: 369-88 (1990).A complete discussion of the effects of marijuana is available from Marijuana Myths / Marijuana Facts: A Review of the Scientific Evidence by Lynn Zimmer, Ph.D. and John Morgan, M.D. available from Bookworld Services 1-800-444-2524.Visit Drug War Facts at: http://www.drugsense.org/ Common Sense for Drug Policyhttp://www.csdp.orgKevin B. Zeese President703-354-5694 703-354-5695 (fax)csdp drugsense.org Pubdate: Feb 2000Source: Mother Jones (US)Page: 86Contact: backtalk mothorjones.com Address: 731 Market StreetSuite 600San Francisco, CA 94103Fax: (415) 665-6696 News Article Courtesy Of MapInc.http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n149/a05.html Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #3 posted by military officer guy on February 02, 2000 at 17:41:13 PT ads, great idea... i'm not here to say, that maryjane is necessarily the best thing for your body, but also, it's definitely not the worst thing for your body either...so these ads can only help our cause...i'm sick of hearing how bad drugs are for us, we let us make that decision...hopefully these ads will at least make non dope users see that it ain't all that bad for US...keep the ads, and the dialog coming...like the kapt says, slowly but surely we will win this war... [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by kaptinemo on February 02, 2000 at 16:36:49 PT They've made up their minds, don't confuse them with the facts. That attitude is hardly new, and the problems it engenders have slowed human progress for thousands of years. But one well-aimed truth, told at the right time to the right people, can change things dramatically for the better. We are witnessing this in what's happening in California right now. A board in one California county has been formed to hammer out the policy regarding MMJ. Several of the board members are doctors. That means, that for once, clinicians and not politicians will be in a position to bring rationality to a field so often overun with DrugWarrior prejudices and ignorance. (That is, if they are true to their Hippocratic Oaths and don't defer to their law-enforcement 'colleagues') The cops on that board will automatically be outvoted on every attempt to maintain their prohibitionist positions. As they should be. After all, this is supposed to be a democracy, right?Things are getting better. Painfully slowly, at times, but getting better. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Matthew Cooper on February 02, 2000 at 04:10:41 PT: just giving my opinion Ive search information for marijuana on this site and from what I can tell weed does more good than harm. Weed is one of the best things to ever happen to me. Without it I wouldn't have anything to do and would be all stressed out.All I have to say is god bless weed, and I think it should be legalized. Have a nice day people! [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: