cannabisnews.com: Ads Show Brain Scans From Drug Users Ads Show Brain Scans From Drug Users Posted by FoM on September 12, 2000 at 08:58:48 PT By Donna Leinwand, USA TODAY Source: USA Today Federal officials began airing radio and television spots Monday that show brain scans to try to convince youths of the dangers of drugs such as Ecstasy and methamphetamines. The ads, which will run across the USA as public service announcements, are part of a federal effort to state the case against drugs to young people. Previous campaigns have warned youths about how drugs can affect their health and social lives. The seven new ads, in English and Spanish, carry an anti-drug message rooted in science: Addictive drugs can change the brain so rapidly that they can take it over.Drugs, particularly Ecstasy and methamphetamines, "hijack your brain," says Alan Leshner, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the campaign's sponsor. "When people say that's hyperbole, I can offer you data."One ad shows brain scans and equates addiction with brain disease. "When people say you're bright, they mean you've got a lot going on up there. It's not something people who use drugs hear that much," the voiceover says.Another emphasizes that addiction might take hold of users more quickly than they think."All kids can choose not to start using drugs, but some can't choose to stop," the teenage actors say."Drugs change what's in your head. They take over your mind, make you do things that make no sense." A third commercial targets parents. "You've got to influence your kids' thinking before drugs do," it says.Ecstasy and methamphetamines, which are particularly popular on college campuses, at all-night "rave" parties and in some nightclubs, damage key parts of the brain, says Drew Pinsky, a physician and addiction specialist who co-hosts MTV's Loveline, an advice show aimed at youths. Pinsky says he has seen patients who are depressed, anxious, forgetful and sleepless after several months of Ecstasy use. "The drugs that young people are using today have profound effects on their brain," he says.On the institute's Web site, www.drugabuse.gov, teens can see how brain scans of people who use drugs differ from those who don't."We believe that young people can make rational decisions if you give them credible information in a non-hyperbolic way," Leshner says. "These brain scans aren't an exaggeration. These are brain scans from Johns Hopkins University."NIDA spent $160,000 on the ad campaign. It includes placement of anti-drug postcards at bars, nightclubs and colleges. Actor John Brinson, 14, of Philadelphia appeared in an ad. "If you explain to kids what's going on with their bodies instead of just saying, 'Don't use drugs,' we're more likely to listen," he says. Published: September 11, 2000Source: USA Today (US)Copyright: 2000 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.Contact: editor usatoday.comAddress: 1000 Wilson Blvd., Arlington VA 22229Fax: (703) 247-3108Website: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nfront.htm Related Article & Web Site:Seeing Drugs as a Choice or as a Brain Anomalyhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6161.shtml Science: The Hijacked Brainhttp://www.pbs.org/wnet/closetohome/science/index.html END SNIP --> Snipped Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #18 posted by Frank on September 13, 2000 at 17:35:33 PT Dung From the NIDA Propaganda from the NIDA. They ought to do a brain scan of the staff at the NIDA. The results would show a brain structure similar to a Swiss cheese. Brains filled with holes, voids and rotten spots. These people are like a broken record and most people are sick of them. [ Post Comment ] Comment #17 posted by bcg on September 13, 2000 at 09:30:16 PT: brain scans Hi mota20,I think this is the fundamental problem with NIDA's failure to distinguish classes of drugs (and failure - due to politics - to call alcohol a drug at all). The brain scans they are showing re:MDMA are valid. There is overwhelming evidence that MDMA and other amphetamines cause lesioning of serotonin and probably dopamine neurons. (Although there are ways to combat this brain damage, but harm reduction is not a phrase the ONDCP ever wants to hear). But when they show an EEG of a person in a coma and say this is what pot does, people begin to question all of the work we do as scientists studying the effects of these drugs. [ Post Comment ] Comment #16 posted by FoM on September 13, 2000 at 07:08:37 PT Mornin' Folks! Thanks Dan B.I believe that Cannabis can help people with different diseases besides it's excellent use for nausea. Has anyone ever tried to carry a full cup of coffee without spilling it after a few drinks? When I drank beer I was very clumsy. Marijuana doesn't do that I think. I believe that marijuana calms nervous tics and would help people like Michael J. Fox. I hope he comes out and talks about Cannabis. If he doesn't use Cannabis I sure hope he tries it. Montel Williams has M.S. I wonder if he will talk about Marijuana too. As more and more people get these bizarre diseases I hope we will see them speak out.Hi mota20! I haven't seen you for a long time. Good to see you but I looked for what you were talking about but couldn't find anything but I do remember what you were saying!Peace, FoM! [ Post Comment ] Comment #15 posted by Dan B on September 13, 2000 at 00:43:24 PT: Re: FoM's "Marijuana is Good Medicine" I read the article, and I found it quite interesting, particularly in light of my own mild tic disorder (often documented but never officially diagnosed as Tourettes, I have a history of mild vocal tics and occasional uncontrollable outbursts, usually in conjunction with increased tics during times of elevated stress). I did want to point out something somewhat tricky about the article's wording: early on, the article reports that it is marijuana's effects on the anandamide system that are of principal importance with regard to the treatment of Parkinson's disease, tic disorders, and schizophrenia. One might recall that the anandamide system is most directly affected by cannabinoids (most notably delta-9 THC). In fact, to my knowledge marijuana is the main reason why the effects of the anandamide system were discovered in the first place. Anyway, it is very important to note that the article directly regards marijuana's effects on the anandamide system as an important step toward regulating the aforementioned neurological disorders. The other half of the equation with regard to treatment of these disorders (according to the article)involves finding something that also positively affects the regulation of dopamine. This is where the wording gets a little tricky:"cannabis itself did not offer any kind of cure...Marijuana doesn't provide the regulatory effects on dopamine in the brain that we're looking for." Taken out of context (as the antis most assuredly will try to do), this statement seems to negate the possibility of using marijuana as a treatment for Parkinson's, tic disorders and schizophrenia. Such is not the case; it is merely a statement that while marijuana can help to an extent, it does not fix the problem permanently, and that to provide optimum relief from these symptoms, some combination involving the positive effects of marijuana on anandamide receptors plus some other dopamine regulating agent is desirable.So, while it sounds like the article is backpeddling from the use of marijuana as a treatment for these disorders, I believe that the scientists working on this project would not describe the qualification they made as backpeddling. Rather, I think they are taking a very scientifically valid approach of restrained optimism. They have not yet found the perfect cure, but marijuana has brought them much closer to doing so.It is also interesting that marijuana is now being touted as a potential treatment for schizophrenia, given the anti's claims that marijuana supposedly induces the neurological disorder. It is also important that the authors emphasize that "natural" marijuana is the key.I'll re-post FoM's link to the article, since quite a few messages have since been posted here. Thanks, FoM.Dan B 'Natural Marijuana' May Treat Brain Disorders [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by mota20 on September 12, 2000 at 21:23:35 PT brain scans. I wonder if anyone remembers the TV add of about 10 years ago that showed ( or claimed to show) a teenagers brain waves after smokeing pot. It turned out to be the brain waves of a 20 year old comma paintent( sp) , once the press found out the add was taken off the air. Every drug has at one time been the center of the gov. lies and they never learn. I do not say drugs are good for you , but the harm to the user comes more from the laws then the drug use. peace mota20 [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by FoM on September 12, 2000 at 19:46:52 PT Hi Rainbow Yuk turning green Rainbow! We had a friend from back east that was our best man at our wedding back in the 70s come out to visit us this summer. I told him the story about Laurie Hiett and her interview on 60 minutes. When I said how she acted when she had a pound of coke dropped on the table and said wow an addicts dream or something close to that our friend shook his head real fast and I said what's wrong? He said I got a taste in my mouth from the time when I was consuming vast quantities of coke and it made him feel sick. I once downed 3 shots of Southern Comfort on an empty stomach at a party and took a diet pill( good one in those days) Within 20 minutes I thought I was going to die or wished I would. I never spun so fast and thru up so much in my life. I never drank any Southern Comfort again! LOL!Peace, FoM! [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by Rainbow on September 12, 2000 at 19:08:28 PT Addiction Actually nicotine was really hard for me to kick. I was smoking a lot in grad school. In order to stop I tested some of my Skinnerian psych I was learning about primarily extinction.HOW?I took a bunch of snuff which I had tricked myself into liking. After a few times I just said OH Hell (sundance kid style) and swallowed the glob. And yes I was sick, green, sick and greener. But tobacco was the furthest thing from my mind.Oh I did it again to make sure.I am not cured of that addiction but now I can have a couple cigs (the urge is great) without wanting more. I feel that sickness coming back.Yes I know it was dumb but hey Skinner was right I can stop a behavior that I like with an excurciating sicking once in a life behavior.Don't worry I am not a clinical psychologist. I stuck to engineering psychology.CheersRainbowAlso I would really like the citation about the link of cocaine and ritalin. [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by FoM on September 12, 2000 at 18:12:58 PT My 2 cents Hi zion, That's what they say but I think a person can only quit a drug or any addiction when they decide for whatever reasons to stop. You take all of an addicts possessions, dignity etc. and why would they stop doing drugs? That is all that would be left. Hope this makes sense.Peace, FoM! [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by zion on September 12, 2000 at 17:04:05 PT Prison as "intervention" But FoM,For many people, prison is the only way they can get out of their addiction. Prison is the "wake up call" that they've hit bottom and have to clean up their life. Officer Friendly is just being your friendly, caring addiction therapist by arresting you (after cracking some skull and trashing your house) and sending you to prison. Prison, drug testing, forfeiture of your assets - these are all measures to _help_ you escape your addiction. It's part of the tripod of combatting drug abuse - law enforcement, treatment, and education. Without them, your brain would be hijacked by chemicals with little hope to escape the downward spiral into self-destruction, destruction of family and friends around you, and destruction of society and all that we're trying to preserve for our children.It's very selfish for anyone to object to this quite effective method for combatting addiction. [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by FoM on September 12, 2000 at 13:49:15 PT Thanks bcg Thanks bcg,I only tried cocaine one time and was so disappointed I never did it again. I was a meth head at the time and it was so much better. Not better for me but just better. Our family was very weight conscious and when I was 10 I was a few pounds over weight so my Mom took me to the Doctor and he prescribed this new drug an amphetamine. I lost weight and loved how they made me feel. I battled addiction to speed on and off until I was around 27 years old and just stopped. Addiction is so strange. It sure shouldn't be a crime to have a drug addiction problem.Thanks FoM! [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by Bishop on September 12, 2000 at 13:11:30 PT Dr. Drew Is Insaaaaane Has anyone else listened to Loveline and heard some of the outrageous lies that Dr. Drew spews? It's a wonder that an MD (and an addiction medicine specialist at that) can be so incredibly misinformed about cannabis. I'm STILL waiting to grow breasts, lose my erection, and fall into a deep depression. 15 years and counting... [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by bcg on September 12, 2000 at 13:11:10 PT: ritalin Vs. amphet. FoM, These drugs are similar in their effects, but the difference is that amphetamine and MDMA are neurotransmitter (dopamine) releasers. That means that these 2 drugs actually pull signalling chemicals out of neurons and into the surrounding area. This seems to be what causes the cell death. In contrast, cocaine and ritalin elevate brain dopamine levels, but don't pull extra dopamine out of cells. So, cocaine and ritalin don't cause brain death while amphetamine and MDMA do. This still begs the question of why we have children on drugs known to cause changes in brain connections which lead to addiction.. The gateway hypothesis seems more appropriate to this issue when you consider children chronically on cocaine (which is essentially what ritalin is). [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by dddd on September 12, 2000 at 12:15:31 PT same old crop The observant observation of our friend Observer is,as usual,quite correct. He has obviously done his homework,and upon checking his calculations,I must concur.X + Meth = drugs = cannabis The only problem with this formula,is the end product of the equation is missing. That is; =drugs..........dddd [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by MikeEEEEE on September 12, 2000 at 11:21:58 PT Here we go again It gets tiring to hear this again. It sounds as if "This is your mind on drugs." has come back to haunt us. It failed before and will probably fail again, acually I hear a lot of kids laughed at the ads the last time they tried something like this, I don't see the logic in continuing with something that didn't work. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by FoM on September 12, 2000 at 10:52:09 PT Marijuana is Good Medicine Thought I'd post this article from last year about some of marijuana's benefits.'Natural Marijuana' May Treat Brain Disorders http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_303000/303438.stm [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Frank S. World on September 12, 2000 at 10:14:38 PT They always find a way... They always find a way to bring it around to cannabis. This will be no exception. If they were rational, they would truthfully explain the relative harms of all commonly used substances. Cannabis would undoubtedly rank as least harmful. I just saw a news article how just a few tobacco cigarettes can cause addiction for young teens experimenting with tobacco. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by FoM on September 12, 2000 at 10:10:27 PT My Thoughts Here are my thoughts on highjacked brains. These 3 links tell me that these 3 drugs are much alike. If brains are highjacked who is responsible for the future addiction problems of all the children that are on Ritalin? God Damn The Pusher Man! Drugs, particularly Ecstasy and methamphetamines, "hijack your brain," says Alan Leshner, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the campaign's sponsor. Ritalin Information:http://www.drugfreeamerica.org/ritalin.htmlMethamphetamine Information:http://www.nida.nih.gov/Infofax/methamphetamine.htmlAmphetamine Dependencehttp://www.mentalhealth.com/dis/p20-sb02.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by observer on September 12, 2000 at 09:28:54 PT Prohibition Algebra: X + Meth = drugs = cannabis Notice the conflation there? The bait: "mdma and meth cause the brain to function differently." The conflationary switch: "drugs cause brain damage." The all-important authoritarian implication: since marijuana is a drug, it must cause brain damage, too. We musn't "legalize" marijuana, to save The Children. (Therefore "we" must continue to lock up and ever more harshly punish adults who use cannabis.) [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: