Can you provide a link that shows how much more damaging pot is than other substances that are legal?

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For your reading pleasure

Exposing the Myth of Smoked Medical Marijuana
Marijuana: The Facts

Q: Does marijuana pose health risks to users?

Marijuana is an addictive drug with significant health consequences to its users and others. Many harmful short-term and long-term problems have been documented with its use:


The short term effects of marijuana use include: memory loss, distorted perception, trouble with thinking and problem solving, loss of motor skills, decrease in muscle strength, increased heart rate, and anxiety.


In recent years there has been a dramatic increase in the number of emergency room mentions of marijuana use. From 1993-2000, the number of emergency room marijuana mentions more than tripled.


There are also many long-term health consequences of marijuana use. According to the National Institutes of Health, studies show that someone who smokes five joints per week may be taking in as many cancer-causing chemicals as someone who smokes a full pack of cigarettes every day.


Marijuana contains more than 400 chemicals, including most of the harmful substances found in tobacco smoke. Smoking one marijuana cigarette deposits about four times more tar into the lungs than a filtered tobacco cigarette.


Harvard University researchers report that the risk of a heart attack is five times higher than usual in the hour after smoking marijuana.


Smoking marijuana also weakens the immune system and raises the risk of lung infections. A Columbia University study found that a control group smoking a single marijuana cigarette every other day for a year had a white-blood-cell count that was 39 percent lower than normal, thus damaging the immune system and making the user far more susceptible to infection and sickness.


Users can become dependent on marijuana to the point they must seek treatment to stop abusing it. In 1999, more than 200,000 Americans entered substance abuse treatment primarily for marijuana abuse and dependence.


More teens are in treatment for marijuana use than for any other drug or for alcohol. Adolescent admissions to substance abuse facilities for marijuana grew from 43 percent of all adolescent admissions in 1994 to 60 percent in 1999.


Marijuana is much stronger now than it was decades ago. According to data from the Potency Monitoring Project at the University of Mississippi, the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content of commercial-grade marijuana rose from an average of 3.71 percent in 1985 to an average of 5.57 percent in 1998. The average THC content of U.S. produced sinsemilla increased from 3.2 percent in 1977 to 12.8 percent in 1997.
Q. Does marijuana have any medical value?

Any determination of a drug's valid medical use must be based on the best available science undertaken by medical professionals. The Institute of Medicine conducted a comprehensive study in 1999 to assess the potential health benefits of marijuana and its constituent cannabinoids. The study concluded that smoking marijuana is not recommended for the treatment of any disease condition. In addition, there are more effective medications currently available. For those reasons, the Institute of Medicine concluded that there is little future in smoked marijuana as a medically approved medication.


Advocates have promoted the use of marijuana to treat medical conditions such as glaucoma. However, this is a good example of more effective medicines already available. According to the Institute of Medicine, there are six classes of drugs and multiple surgical techniques that are available to treat glaucoma that effectively slow the progression of this disease by reducing high intraocular pressure.


In other studies, smoked marijuana has been shown to cause a variety of health problems, including cancer, respiratory problems, increased heart rate, loss of motor skills, and increased heart rate. Furthermore, marijuana can affect the immune system by impairing the ability of T-cells to fight off infections, demonstrating that marijuana can do more harm than good in people with already compromised immune systems.


In addition, in a recent study by the Mayo Clinic, THC was shown to be less effective than standard treatments in helping cancer patients regain lost appetites.


The American Medical Association recommends that marijuana remain a Schedule I controlled substance.


The DEA supports research into the safety and efficacy of THC (the major psychoactive component of marijuana), and such studies are ongoing, supported by grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.


As a result of such research, a synthetic THC drug, Marinol, has been available to the public since 1985. The Food and Drug Administration has determined that Marinol is safe, effective, and has therapeutic benefits for use as a treatment for nausea and vomiting associated with cancer chemotherapy, and as a treatment of weight loss in patients with AIDS. However, it does not produce the harmful health effects associated with smoking marijuana.


Furthermore, the DEA recently approved the University of California San Diego to undertake rigorous scientific studies to assess the safety and efficacy of cannabis compounds for treating certain debilitating medical conditions.


It's also important to realize that the campaign to allow marijuana to be used as medicine is a tactical maneuver in an overall strategy to completely legalize all drugs. Pro-legalization groups have transformed the debate from decriminalizing drug use to one of compassion and care for people with serious diseases. The New York Times interviewed Ethan Nadelman, Director of the Lindesmith Center, in January 2000. Responding to criticism from former Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey that the medical marijuana issue is a stalking-horse for drug legalization, Mr. Nadelman did not contradict General McCaffrey. "Will it help lead toward marijuana legaization?" Mr. Nadelman said: "I hope so."
Q. Does marijuana harm anyone besides the individual who smokes it?

Consider the public safety of others when confronted with intoxicated drug users:


Marijuana affects many skills required for safe driving: alertness, the ability to concentrate, coordination, and reaction time. These effects can last up to 24 hours after smoking marijuana. Marijuana use can make it difficult to judge distances and react to signals and signs on the road.


In a 1990 report, the National Transportation Safety Board studied 182 fatal truck accidents. It found that just as many of the accidents were caused by drivers using marijuana as were caused by alcohol -- 12.5 percent in each case.


Consider also that drug use, including marijuana, contributes to crime. A large percentage of those arrested for crimes test positive for marijuana. Nationwide, 40 percent of adult males tested positive for marijuana at the time of their arrest.
Q. Is marijuana a gateway drug?

Yes. Among marijuana's most harmful consequences is its role in leading to the use of other illegal drugs like heroin and cocaine. Long-term studies of students who use drugs show that very few young people use other illegal drugs without first trying marijuana. While not all people who use marijuana go on to use other drugs, using marijuana sometimes lowers inhibitions about drug use and exposes users to a culture that encourages use of other drugs.


The risk of using cocaine has been estimated to be more than 104 times greater for those who have tried marijuana than for those who have never tried it.
In Summary:

Marijuana is a dangerous, addictive drug that poses significant health threats to users.


Marijuana has no medical value that can't be met more effectively by legal drugs.


Marijuana users are far more likely to use other drugs like cocaine and heroin than non-marijuana users.


Drug legalizers use "medical marijuana" as red herring in effort to advocate broader legalization of drug use.

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If potency is the issue, then why do we allow hard liquor? Doesn't it take far more beer to intoxicate a person than hard liquor?

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Of course, it is more theory than reality since President Bush took office.

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:rock:Same here, only time I ever roll a fat joint is when im in the recording studio for a long period of time creating music. See when im standing at the keyboard and I run out of ideas, its just something about smoking a joint that refreshes the thinking process, say what you wanna say.

Well I didnt manage to get a degree or anything, unless you wanna count the degree i'm up for, for trading in my on the job and real world experience for a legit Master's Degree in Computer Science.

Exactly and if a doctor can actually recommend a scubscription, should say one thing about this as well.

Exactly, im with you on that note. President Clinton Smoked Pot, but he says he didnt inhale, but thats another story another day right

Exactly, it really isnt addictive, those that choose to smoke it on a daily basis and 7 or more joints a day, usually do so to keep their mind away from a personal battle they are fighting, but thats another story another day.

[QUOTE=Barça]
Also, can anyone explain to me which western country has managed to achieve any results with the banning of this substance?

I'm whilling to bet, if the US made it available in the store next to all the other Cigarrettes, I bet you anything you would see a huge impact in the Tobaco econony. More people would buy, especially if they know they can buy it at their own free will and not worry about the consequences of getting caught, but then a move like that would most likely push certain drub pushers out of business, and given how the US lets certain well known drug traffic distributors in thats another story another day.

Exactly, there are so many different versions of marijuana, some good effects and some bad effects

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Hard liquor does not have the same results as a joint.
Pot is a drug and should remain illegal until eternity! And since there is a synthetic form of the nerve toxin available there really isn't a reason for medical use other!
-- Nuff said on that topic from my perspective. ---

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That is a conclusion, but what is your basis for that conclusion? What bad effect does pot cause that smoking and liquor do not?

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It´s curious how people who never did drugs seem to know more than those who do about its dangers and downsides, isn´t? Why is it that the doctors and politicians always want to think they know more about it because they have an MBA or some diploma?
Before anything else, maybe we should post everyone´s personnal experience with drugs, and then their opinion on wether it should be legal or not.
My opinion is probably the most unexpected here, as i´ve been a regular drug use for 15 years, but i totally disagree with legalizing any drug at all!!
Strange, uh? One would expect a junkie to want drugs legalized, no?
But that´s right. I´m fiercely opposed. Actually, i think alcohol should be illegalized aswell, as it is the biggest cause of death all over the world, and the biggest family destroyer ever.
Hey, how about that? A left winger pushing for a right wing rulling!!! It goes to show nothing is ever either black or white...


PS: I have some ganja around here somewhere. Who wants some? Raise your arm!
:cool:

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Did you bother to read my post?

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Now I know that I'm not the best person to talk to for pot knowledge, but after doing some research for the sake of my friends (I have at least half a dozen friends who do pot), marijuana is less harmful than it is made out to be, and less harmful than things such as cigarettes. I my opinion it should be legalized, either that or things such as cigarettes should be illegalized, but I'm leaning towards the former. If someone wants to mess up their own body, it's their decision.

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