I decided to destroy some myths about marijuana after reading a very nice piece by Peter Hitchens.
Hitchens drinks, probably more than you would, but he’s an artist and a writer and they do that.
In fact there is a new book out about drinking writers. I didn’t read it, I know many writers drink too much.
http://spectator.org/articles/34426/straight-dope-telephone-conversation-peter-hitchens
Let’s not be delusional, cannabis is a very different thing from alcohol, it hangs around and it is a drug (thc) that causes a dulling of the senses that is quite different from the effects of alcohol, and much more lingering.
Alcohol abuse and alcoholism is a different beast from Marijuana use, but if I wanted to make a society, a segment of society supplicants at the alter of dependency and lack of initiative, marijuana would be my choice to create dependency.
It is not an abuse with no victims since any member of the family or friends or work associates of marijuana users is affected.
It is not a benign abuse, since it diminishes the human energy and motivation of the user.
Do not be swayed by the chatter of the libertine crowd, it is not an innocent thing. As for its reputation as a drug for medical problems, and the expanded indications, it is a drug for recreation that is a distracting and dis inhibiting and a degenerating substance. Sure it might improve someone’s appetite like any mind altering substance, or it might mitigate pain or anxiety.
That’s what it’s supposed to do, but is it good for a functional adult human to choose such an escape?
I won’t even suggest marijuana causes a user to be a user. That’s obvious. It is a pleasant experience to be stoned, isn’t it, not salutary in the normal sense, but an easy ride for a loser.
Read what Hitchens has to say.
http://spectator.org/articles/34426/straight-dope-telephone-conversation-peter-hitchens
Peter
The reason I’m skeptical is that by definition “smoke” is from incomplete combustion. Products of incomplete combustion (PIC’s) include carbon particulates (polyaromatic hydrocarbons, tars, etc), HCN, CO, NH3 and loads of other compounds, including the uncombusted nicotine or THC. Constituents vary by plant type and parts of the plant combusted. However, both produce a number of known carcinogens. So, just from that standpoint, one would expect some negative effects. http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cannabis_info3.shtml
We don’t know the mechanism for tobacco smoke causing cancers so if you smoke tobacco we can’t say how many coffin nails it takes before you have lung cancer. The statistics are pretty clear that you have a higher probability of contracting any of a number of lung problems from the habit.
With weed we are supposed to believe that we can inhale particulate, PAH’s, CO, HCN and a plethora of other nasties and improve pulmonary function? Really? Since we have theories on why we get cancer from smoking, we can also get theories on why smoking weed prevents cancer. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1277837/
We don’t have long-term studies on the effects of smoking weed like we do with tobacco. But if you believe THC prevents cancer, why can’t I put it in my cigar and inhale away? Obviously, if you balance the good and the bad, the effect is zero, right?
I think the jury should be out on potential toxic effects of smoking weed. However, which would you rather the guy coming in your direction in a 2-ton, 4-wheel bullet doing 70mph be chain smoking Marlboro’s or weed?
Hi Bob
Seems I misunderstood, I fail to see what your problem could be with the study you cited, it is after all quite consistent with Tashkin’s earlier findings. If you can find something specific to criticize about his findings do let me know
You mix weed with tobacco?!?. An evil practice, akin to mixing chardonnay with turps!. No way would I ever inhale tobacco, especially deeply like you do with weed, that really IS bad for you!
yes.
John Dale Dunn MD JD Consultant Emergency Services/Peer Review Civilian Faculty, Emergency Medicine Residency Carl R. Darnall Army Med Center Fort Hood, Texas Medical Officer, Sheriff Bobby Grubbs Brown County, Texas 325 784 6697 (h) 642 5073 (c)
more than 1000 mic/cubic meter, just like cig smoke.
John Dale Dunn MD JD Consultant Emergency Services/Peer Review Civilian Faculty, Emergency Medicine Residency Carl R. Darnall Army Med Center Fort Hood, Texas Medical Officer, Sheriff Bobby Grubbs Brown County, Texas 325 784 6697 (h) 642 5073 (c)
Who’s a naturopath? I would suggest that Naturopaths do like to trip out on the edges. All natural and organic of course.
John Dale Dunn MD JD Consultant Emergency Services/Peer Review Civilian Faculty, Emergency Medicine Residency Carl R. Darnall Army Med Center Fort Hood, Texas Medical Officer, Sheriff Bobby Grubbs Brown County, Texas 325 784 6697 (h) 642 5073 (c)
I am going to post one more on marijuana for the gang.
I have a boss, chief Deputy Duvall of the Brown Co Sheriff, and before he retired from the State Department of Public Safety, he was the no 2 man in the Narcotics section.
He testified before the legislature of Texas and gave speeches and conferences on drug abuse and drug trafficing, and I interviewed him to supplement my discussions, since there were lots of medical research studies that he reviewed to support his positions with political, law enforcement, and community audiences.
I’ll do it up in the next 24 hours. Promise. I am also finishing up on some thoughts about Cocaine, which is a peculiar drug of abuse for reasons I will explain.
John Dale Dunn MD JD Consultant Emergency Services/Peer Review Civilian Faculty, Emergency Medicine Residency Carl R. Darnall Army Med Center Fort Hood, Texas Medical Officer, Sheriff Bobby Grubbs Brown County, Texas 325 784 6697 (h) 642 5073 (c)
What is the PM2.5 level in pot smoke?
Weed arguments are already made.
You think they make sense, fire one up. Weed is a sneaky thing culturally, plenty of people are the victims of alcohol too.
Normalization and decriminalization of weed is a cultural problem of significant import and deserves the discussion.
Might say that as an emergency physician for 40 years I know a little about the consequences of alcohol, it’s just I am not naïve about cannabis and hash, and other recreational mind altering substances. I agree with Hitchens that weed has a different effect culturally.
And I surely do not think opiates or meth or cocaine offer some kind of magic.
Weed strikes me as close to Huxley’s Soma, the way to make people accept their infantile dependency state. You think not–your prerogative.
In my experience, marijuana makes its users stupid, lazy and self-absorbed.
To me the issue has nothing to do with the drug itself, but whether the governments prohibition passes the cost/benefits test. I don’t believe it does. Let the potheads pay taxes and remove the criminals’ cash flow. Stop locking up non-violent teenagers for selling to their friends and reduce prison over-crowding. Historically prohibition always creates more crime than it prevents both in number and severity.
I am a little taken back by this article. From someone who preaches sound evidence when making claims, you seem to let your opinion get in the way of facts. Cannabis more harmful than alcohol? Really? How many ppl have died from THC overdose vs alcohol?
The anti cannabis culture still cant help itself from reaching back to the refer madness days. Propaganda far worse than DDT, AGW etc etc.
Sorry, Peter, I should have put the [/sarc] tag. I find the study to be a bit in the unbelievable side. If it had the magic properties why couldn’t I go back to tobacco as long as I either mixed it with MJ or toked a few during the day? One counterbalancing the other.
Besides, our esteemed environmental leaders have said that there is NO safe level of PM2.5 and didn’t specify the source.
Sorry, but this is just silly. Compared to licit drugs like alcohol, MJ is far less of a danger. Not harmless, but it’s like comparing a BB gun to a howitzer.
Thanks for the link Bob. A quote from it (from Dr Donald Tashkin, an emminent researcher in the field) is instructive
“Tashkin argues that specific properties of marijuana also matter. He says that THC has anti-inflammatory and immune suppressing properties, which may prevent lung irritation from developing into chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a devastating lung disorder frequently caused by tobacco smoking.
As for cancer, he says, “the THC in marijuana has well-defined anti-tumoral effects that have been shown to inhibit the growth of a variety of cancers in animal models and tissue culture systems, thus counteracting the potentially tumorigenic effects of the procarcinogens in marijuana smoke.”
Whatever the cause, it seems that those who argue that marijuana is harmful because of its smoke are going to have to find a different line of attack.”
No further comment required
R
20 years from now, Big Pot will be getting the same treatment as Big Tobacco.
And all the users will be soooooo mad that no one told them a drug that alters your brain chemistry can hurt you in the long run.
(Then there is that whole ‘breathing in smoke’ thing.)
Really magic stuff. We even have a study showing it enhances pulmonary function. http://healthland.time.com/2012/01/10/study-smoking-marijuana-not-linked-with-lung-damage/
The only safe PM2.5?
Just think, the way things are going, we are going to have more folks on the roads who have been using this harmless stuff.
Looked him up – he’s a naturopath. He’s one of those types that believes that marijuana is a miracle drug. The reason why he even got published is because people sincerely profit off this scam.
Plus, he looks like a cult leader.
The arguments in favor of drug legalization for recreational use are all economic and political, and they are compelling. Nonetheless, drug legalization is neither a political nor an economic issue. It is a public health issue and the public health arguments, so nicely presented by john1282 and Mr. Hitchens, all lead to the inescapable conclusion that such recreational use is not a good idea. Further, Mr. Hitchens refers to “alleged” rmedicinal usefulness of marijuana and he is right. There exists not a single placebo-controlled, double-blind crossover study showing usefulness of marijuana, not even one. All the extant “medical literature” is either anecdotal or, worse, patient self-report. Dr. john1282 took down placebo effect nicely here on junkscience.com last week, so I don’t think much more need be said, except that I am not refering to pharmacologic canaboids, which have proper studies behind them. States which allow “Medical” Marijuana are just plain wrong.
that’s just you, how about the human race?
uberight big boy, marijuana is enough to take you off your game and make you believe you still have one.
John Dale Dunn MD JD Consultant Emergency Services/Peer Review Civilian Faculty, Emergency Medicine Residency Carl R. Darnall Army Med Center Fort Hood, Texas Medical Officer, Sheriff Bobby Grubbs Brown County, Texas 325 784 6697 (h) 642 5073 (c)
What about the medical marijuana claim? What’s your take, John?
There are two sides to the Marijuana debate. Education is possible: see
Marijuana Gateway to Health: How Cannabis Protects Us from Cancer and Alsheimer’s Disease (Clint Warner) Pub 9/2011. http://www.amazon.com/Marijuana-Gateway-Health-Cannabis-Alzheimers/dp/098342618X
Never seen the appeal in pot really. The time distorition and unclear thinking make it an undesierable DOC for me. I don’t see how people operate on it but that’s just me.