Marijuana May Disrupt Brain Development

[matthewota]

No excuses, marijuan is harmful not only to your lungs for the smoke, but for brain damage too. Do not believe the proponents that are trying to legalize it for "medicinal" purposes, just for an excuse to get high. Marijuana is damaging to your heath, as shown in this study:

http://www.livescience.com/health/090203-marijuana-brain.html

[a_lost_packet_]

Huh?

Wah?

...

I like peas!

( )

I agree, marijuana appears to have some effects there. Of course, proponents aren't going to listen to that, sadly.

[ZenGalacticore]

I smoke it occasionally, and I mean occasionally. Haven't smoked any for six months. And it is definitely bad for the lungs, even the premium "one hit wonder" gooey green bud varieties with the crystaline THC produced by the isolated females.

Everything in moderation, my friends. Marijuana isn't going to go away. The weed will grow just about anywhere, and as history teaches us, prohibition of such a thing-especially a plant that grows anywhere with hardly any care or supervision- is not only futile, but a serious waste of tax-payer dollars for enforcement of such silly marijuana laws.

Legalize it, regulate it, tax it. That's really the logical thing to do. The only reason it has not been legalized, IMO, is because it would be so easy for the individual to grow it himself, as it already is, and the government doesn't want anybody altering their consciousness with something they can't efficiently tax. (Alcohol and tobacco are efficiently taxed.)

[wayfaerer]

I won't argue that marijuana smoke is harmful for your lungs, but to suggest that this is the be-all and end-all argument against it's legalization for prescription purposes is blown out of proportion.

First off, this study suggests that it inhibits development of the brain, rather than undoing development (like, oh, I don't know, alcohol?). The study was performed on a group of young adults, the mean age being 19 years old. Now, prescriptions would generally be for people with already developed brains (like glaucoma or cancer sufferers, who are usually 40 or older). I know that not everybody who suffers from cancer or glaucoma are 40+, but there are other solutions for those sorts of situations. Using marijuana would just be one facet.

Secondly, the study is referring to HEAVY users. "Nearly 6 joints" a day is a lot, and when you take enough of anything, there's a lasting effect on your body. That's pretty basic pharmacology right there.

Finally, you don't need a proponent looking for "an excuse to get high" to tell you that even the people who held the study question its thoroughness. That can be gleaned from just reading the article. There's one quote in particular that highlights this:

"For one, it involved a small number of subjects. Also, five of the 14 subjects with heavy cannabis use also had a history of alcohol abuse, which may have contributed an effect. Also, it is possible that the brain abnormalities may have predisposed the subjects to drug dependence, rather than drug usage causing the brain abnormalities."

There, a couple points come up. Some of the already small test group had abuse issues with other substances, leaving an even smaller control. Secondly, there's a chicken-and-egg issue here that has yet to be addressed. If further research later on proves that the drug caused the abnormality, I wouldn't be surprised. However, let's not jump the gun here and say that this is concrete evidence. There's enough of that in science already.

Now, just to clear things up, I am not a heavy smoker. I am not even necessarily a strong proponent of getting it legalized. It just really, really bugged me to see this article being treated like marijuana's final nail in the coffin, so to speak. This article is good, but it's important to consider the message that they're trying to get across here. It's not cyanide, but it is something to be taken seriously.

[mental_avenger]

Ask an idiot if he is an idiot, and he will probably say no. Ask a marijuana user if smoking marijuana is bad for their health, and they will probably say no. Why is that? Because neither has the ability to be objective.

[ZenGalacticore]

Ask an idiot if he is an idiot, and he will probably say no. Ask a marijuana user if smoking marijuana is bad for their health, and they will probably say no. Why is that? Because neither has the ability to be objective.

How very profound. Does that same logic and philosophy go for fat people who can't tie their own shoes while they're in the Drive-Thru line to get a double quarter-pounder with cheese and super-sized fries and jumbo milk-shake?

Why can't you people get it through your heads that humans-stupid, normal, or highly intelligent or genius- are ALWAYS going to seek out altered states of consciousness?

I know plenty of "idiots" who smoke a lot more marijuana than I do who are much more successful (financially) than me. Lawyers, dentists, business owners, etc.

I smoke marijuana sometimes MA. Do you believe that I am incapable of objectivity? Do I come across as an idiot? If so then perhaps you are the idiot that has no objectivity.

[jim48]

Nonsense! Rubbish! Lies! Just take a good look at me.

[schmack]

Ask an idiot if he is an idiot, and he will probably say no. Ask a marijuana user if smoking marijuana is bad for their health, and they will probably say no. Why is that? Because neither has the ability to be objective.

I've been an "addicted smoker" for over 12 years. I was among the first in our country to recieve "re-hab" type help to quit smoking pot. I quit. It is no less addictive to a person than is alcohol or religeon. Please reserve your comment, and your judgement, untill you know all about such issues MA, because otherwise you appear foolish.

[mental_avenger]

How very profound. Does that same logic and philosophy go for fat people who can't tie their own shoes while they're in the Drive-Thru line to get a double quarter-pounder with cheese and super-sized fries and jumbo milk-shake?

I guess you missed the point, which was that people who are IN a particular state find it difficult to understand that that state is not normal because for them it is their normal. I know because I have been there. It is much easier for people observing to be objective than a person who is immersed in a situation, or feeling, or mental state. Does that make sense?

Why can't you people get it through your heads that humans-stupid, normal, or highly intelligent or genius- are ALWAYS going to seek out altered states of consciousness?

Oh, there is no doubt that some will. For some of us it is difficult to understand why someone would want to do that though. I like the taste of rum, but I did’t like the feeling not being in full control, or the feeling of being “not quite right”, so I drank very little and stopped as soon as I began to feel any effects. Now I just don’t drink alcohol at all. I may be lucky because I’ll never be an alcoholic or drug addict. I like feeling “well” way too much.

I know plenty of "idiots" who smoke a lot more marijuana than I do who are much more successful (financially) than me. Lawyers, dentists, business owners, etc.

You misunderstood. I didn’t say marijuana smokers were idiots. I was merely using a common concept (crazy people don’t think they are crazy) as a comparison.

I smoke marijuana sometimes MA. Do you believe that I am incapable of objectivity? Do I come across as an idiot? If so then perhaps you are the idiot that has no objectivity

I think that people that smoke marijuana cannot be objective about it. They are naturally going to be biased. IMO the proof of that is that they are willing to do something illegal and usually think it is ok to do that.

[mental_avenger]

I've been an "addicted smoker" for over 12 years. I was among the first in our country to recieve "re-hab" type help to quit smoking pot. I quit. It is no less addictive to a person than is alcohol or religeon. Please reserve your comment, and your judgement, untill you know all about such issues MA, because otherwise you appear foolish.

You have no idea how much I know about the issues.

Like you, I am entitled to my opinion. My opinion is based upon a wide variety of medical training, research, and personal experience.

Looks like you changed your mind about your subsequent comments.

[schmack]

You have no idea how much I know about the issues.

I have a fair idea that you often choose to be biased. Don't deny it.

Like you, I am entitled to my opinion. My opinion is based upon a wide variety of medical training, research, and personal experience.

fair enough, though often you choose to convey that opinion in a very offensive fasion. And i believe you choose to do so intentionally.

Looks like you changed your mind about your subsequent comments.

I decided to hold my tongue and reaserve my judgement. I chose to practise what i preach.

[andrew_t1000]

I think we need to examine the "why" of substance abuse/use.
A lot of the people I hear talking about the evils of weed drink like fish! Most adults in western society could not go more than a couple of days without a drink.
Now, I freely admit I like to smoke pot, I definitely don't need to.
I am not like a friend of mine who once snapped at me, saying, "It's ok for you, you can stand yourself straight, I can't!"

In the grand scheme of things "pot", "weed", "grass" is the most benign social drug around.
I have never seen someone start a fight "stoned" on pot the way I have with drunks, speed freaks or junkies.
A pot smoker is not going to break into their parents home and steal them blind the way a junkie would.
A pot smoker isn't going to beat up an old lady for her pension cheque the way a speed freak would.

I grew up surrounded by men who drank their lives away, alcohol is one of the most insidious drugs there is.
It's everywhere, socially acceptable and almost impossible to avoid.
Here in Australia if you don't drink people wonder why, either there is something wrong with you or worse you must be "on the wagon".
I have seen more people ruin their lives and the lives of those around them with alcohol than any other drug.
I find it so annoying when people try and take the moral high ground against grass with a beer or glass of wine in hand.
Alcohol affects EVERY part of your body, grass might be bad for your head and lungs, but not like alcohol is.

The Rudd government here, in it's infinite wisdom, has made a half baked attempt at curbing binge drinking, by taxing the hell out of alcohol.
A new report here has shown that in response to the new tax, 18 to 30 year olds are buying ecstasy, acid and speed, because it's cheaper.

At the moment Australia is in the grip of an ice epidemic, the amount of crime associated with ice or meth-amphetamine has sky-rocketed.
I have lost a lot of friends to heroine, they are either dead or just plain out people you would not want in your home.

So tell me again, how bad is grass?

[ArcCentral]

I here that the first test to determine the problems with smoking pot, found that it caused brain damage. What they didn't tell you is that the monkeys they did their test on, were fed pot smoke to the point of oxygen deprivation. I'll let you put two and two together on that one.

There is no question that while you are under the influence of pot, you ain't as sharp as without. You need but do a self test to understand this. Any test beyond this will have an agenda IMO.

[wayfaerer]

Ask an idiot if he is an idiot, and he will probably say no. Ask a marijuana user if smoking marijuana is bad for their health, and they will probably say no. Why is that? Because neither has the ability to be objective.

Now this seems a little unfair. At no point was I saying that marijuana isn't bad for you. I won't deny that. However, the point I was arguing was that the OP made it seem like marijuana was a despicable thing that only crazy addicts wanted, and this article was undeniable proof of that. That, I did not see, reading this article. It was saying that it MAY stunt brain development of young adults, which again, certainly seems likely.

Like I said, something to treat maturely? Certainly. We've seen what happens with something like alcohol: good way to unwind, but when it becomes a contest to see who can drink the most, people can- and do- die.

[blass]

No excuses, marijuan is harmful not only to your lungs for the smoke, but for brain damage too. Do not believe the proponents that are trying to legalize it for "medicinal" purposes, just for an excuse to get high. Marijuana is damaging to your heath, as shown in this study:

http://www.livescience.com/health/090203-marijuana-brain.html

Thanks for being my mommy and protecting me, but no thanks. If I want to make a decision as a 33 year old adult on what I want to do with my own body, I should be allowed to do so. I'm sure you have some "bad" habits as well that I "don't approve of".

[blass]

Ask an idiot if he is an idiot, and he will probably say no. Ask a marijuana user if smoking marijuana is bad for their health, and they will probably say no. Why is that? Because neither has the ability to be objective.

That is flat out not true. I've known many "pot heads" all through my life, and not one of them was so naive as to think that pot didn't have some negative affects. I've smoked a fair amount in my life too, and I'm not so naive as to think that it hasn't done any damage to me.

I'll tell you what though. The amount of pot that I've smoked in my life I guarantee hasn't come close to the potential damage that my chain smoking father did to me my entire childhood. Ingesting so much second hand smoke while around him that I could barely breath at times. That of course, is "legal". But what I do to my own body is "illegal". You do the math there.

Smoking pot is seriously a question of personal rights and the constitution...not how "dangerous" it is. We do dangerous things every day of our life. Who cares. I don't need a nanny government protecting me or other individuals telling me what I can or can't do with my own body and my own time. I don't tell you how you can use your guns do I and I personally think guns in a household cause more deaths than they actually protect people. YET...I understand the constitutional protection that guns afford and therefore do not support gun control laws.

[blass]

fyi mods...this may potentially be a candidate thread for politics....just saying...

[baulten]

Pot's bad for you.

No ____. Everything is bad for you. Alcohol is worse for you than marijuana. Tobacco kills thousands every year. Alcohol kills even more. Yet those are legal.

Then the government goes and spends my money finding and prosecuting people who smoke pot. It's a waste of taxpayer money! It doesn't matter how bad pot is for you. It's at fault for far less deaths (directly) than alcohol. The government needs to stop being hypocritical and either prosecute all drugs (including caffeine, alcohol, and tobaccy) or none.

[yevaud]

Huhhh...?

SSSSSSSsssssss....

Whhoooossssshhhhhh.....

Ahhh.....

Wha?

Whoah.

Dude.



[Searching for a 50,000 calorie snack...]

[baulten]

Ask an idiot if he is an idiot, and he will probably say no. Ask a marijuana user if smoking marijuana is bad for their health, and they will probably say no. Why is that? Because neither has the ability to be objective.

And apparently you don't have the ability to be objective about anything you disagree with on a personal level.