Good News For Pot Heads

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A demonstrator smokes cannabis during the Fifth Annual International Cannabis March in London on May 3.
Smoking marijuana will certainly affect perception, but it does not cause permanent brain damage, researchers from the University of California at San Diego say. REUTERS/Hugo Philpott


"The findings were kind of a surprise. One might have expected to see more impairment of higher mental function," said Dr. Igor Grant, a UCSD professor of psychiatry and the study's lead author. Other illegal drugs, or even alcohol, can cause brain damage.


UK Reuters Yahoo


[Edited on 28-6-2003 by MiStErBeLLaTrIx]

Great news.........and about time!

I've know that for quite some time now...

People whine all the time about it being a nasty drug... while it's the healthiest drug out there... as long as you use it correctly.

For me it helps liberate the mind and relax... I'll take weed or hash above alcohol anytime.

But it's good to see that it's shown through research.

Peace,

MrFreeze

HELL YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

i mean, uhh, cool. disappears into a corner....

weed, although it has a bad reputation is a good antidepressant as well as a stress reliver. not to mention you see the flying monkeys

[Edited on 03/17/2003 by phoenix_cross]

And thats always a plus.

after drinking tequila last night and this morning having the worst case of dry horrors imaginable, i would rather have just gotten stoned, unfortunitly i have a drug test coming up so i cant smoke any pot :'(

Elsewhere you might find my opinions on recreational drug use.

I don't believe that any 21st century researcher can stand to order and say that marijuana does not impair short term memory functioning. Bollocks to this San Diego research.

Now going to check whether Dr Igor Grant defines "higher mental function" as the rest of the research world does.

Here's the key elements:

"The results, published in the July issue of the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, show that marijuana has only a marginally harmful long-term effect on learning and memory.

No effect at all was seen on other functions, including reaction time, attention, language, reasoning ability, and perceptual and motor skills.

Grant said the findings are particularly significant amid questions about marijuana's long-term toxicity now that several states are considering whether to make it available as a medicinal drug."

DON'T IGNORE THE 'MARGINALLY HARMFUL' AND DON'T ASSUME THAT HIGH LEVEL USAGE IS ONLY 'MARGINALLY HARMFUL'.

IGOR GRANT, M.D., F.R.C.P.(C)., is Professor and Executive Vice-Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Associate Chief of Psychiatry for Research at the San Diego VA Healthcare System. Dr. Grant is Director of the HIV Neurobehavioral Research Center (HNRC), the California NeuroAIDS Tissue Network (CNTN), the University of California Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research (CMCR) and the NIDA-funded program project "NeuroAIDS: Effects of Methamphetamine" Dr. Grant is also the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society


Dr. Igor Grant Website

Resources For Investigators




[Edited on 29-6-2003 by John bull 1]

Dr. Grant's research is very well-respected in the neuropsychiatric community. Regardless of his current results, further replication will be needed to impact any changes on the US drug policy.

I'd like to go on record by stating that marijuana should NOT be a Schedule I drug. This makes any research with the drug extremely difficult to conduct.

I think I'll quote the late great comedian Bill Hicks for this subject.

"Isn't it interesting that the legal drugs, Alcohol and cigarettes... Two drugs that do NOTHING for you what so ever, and drugs that grow naturally upon this planet, drugs that open your eyes up to realising that you're being f**ked everyday of your life...Well those drugs are against the law. Coincidence? I don't think so"

Think about the economic boost that would be gained if marijuana was ever commercialized!

regards
seekerof

Wow John...

Cool quote... i couldn't agree more...

Peace,

MrFreeze

well this is good news....

Weed has never cause a single death first hand. But like smoking it kills because of cancer and the like. Unlike alcohol which kills people easily.

what too many potheads (myself included for many years) tend to forget, is that although pot is comparatively harmless compared to alcohol, cigarettes and other recreational drugs, that still does not equate to totally harmless

It affects lung function, is supposedly 3 times as carcinogenic as tobacco, has negative effects on short term memory and learning ability and depending on the user can cause anxiety attacks, agraphobia, mild depression and paranoia. Many of these effects are noticed even several days after the last toke, however as most potheads I've encountered smoke daily, one never straightens up enough to realise just what it is doing to you.

Personally I'd want this stuff legalised so that the quality can be monitored and a weekly 'safe' limit can be introduced like there is for alcohol. If I regularly drink above 14 units a week, or feel I cannot function in certain situations or sleep without a drink, then I would quickly recognise I had a problem. However too many of us smoke daily, to get to sleep, to relax, sometimes in huge quantities and then find it too easy to deny that pot is a) ruling our lives and b) we couldn't easily go without it if we tried!

I would like to go on record as saying I am praying for marijuana to become legal about as fervently as I am praying stemcell research will be advanced.

I have a quadraplegic nephew. One of the main causes of death in quadraplegics is eventual kidney failure. This is due to the fact that their bodies no longer can get the "full bladder" sign to their brain. Over repeated instances of over-extension of the bladder lining, as well as the adverse effects this has on the kidneys. They ultimately suffer permanent damage and eventually many times kidney failure.

Marijuana has been PROVEN to help this situation. It causes certain effects to the bladder and kidneys (and I can't get real detailed on how it works, but basically it causes relaxation to the bladder which allows the kidneys and bladder to easily evacuate). Since my nephew is being prohibited by the government on this natural, safe method for treating this, the second line of assistance becomes valium.

Isn't that a lot healthier??? So now you have these people on a highly addictive drug with LOTS of adverse side effects.

I say PLEASE, somebody up there get some sense. And then don't even get me started on the terrible situation prohibiting stemcell research and the benefits that my nephew could some day realize from it.

I would say that if anyone wants to smoke pot, then fine. It's your decision. If you are strong enough you should be able to handle any drug. We have drug laws to protect the weak.

I believe I could take drugs and not suffer too badly. But I believe that they would be detrimental overall so I choose not to.

So if you want to do it - then fine.
But don't try and push it onto the rest of us.
And NEVER, NEVER try to justify it to us for recreational purposes.

It has also been proven (in the case of strong hybrids) been found to cause schizophrenia and normal weed is known to greatly increase the chance of cancer.

Even though I may use it I do not recommend anyone who has n`t to start, bad mistake period.

This is a very difficult subject.

Many reports by scientists contradict eachother... I can remember about a year or two ago i heard that smoking weed every once in a while would prevent alzheimers disease AND cancer...

The thing is that ANY and ALL drugs be it tobacco, alcohol, canabis, cocaine, XTC are damaging to the human body. Some are worse than others... The damaging thing about weed is that one burns the weed when it's smoked. One other thing that has been proved is that when one warms the weed up (but does not burn it!!!) and smokes the vapor through a pipe... it is the healthiest of all drugs...

Then there is the aspect of quality and quantity... Here in Holland canabis is on the verge of being upgraded to a hard drug status... that's because superior (cross breed) plants are being used and that amounts of THC and other substances are higher than a natural plant (homegrown).

If one uses large amounts of weed every day then that is obviously damaging to ones health and mental state. But then again the same goes for alcohol and tobacco. Excessive use of any and all drugs are very damaging to one's health.

Again... How one uses the drug is also very important.
For example rolling a joint with tobacco and weed... You are smoking:
1). the rolling paper (not very healthy),
2). the tobacco (not very healthy and also the adictive part in smoking J's)
3). and the canabis itself (which in not healthy either as explained above)

So,... All in all when used correctly my view of the matter is that weed is less damaging than any other drug... and that's the reason why i prefer it to any other... including beer...

Clearly i'm not disputing the fact that in large quantities or in regular use it is damaging. I just think it's healthier than a couple of beers... cheers

Peace,

MrFreeze

[Edited on 29-6-2003 by MrFreeze]

Well, I've been smoking ciggarettes for years, and I definately regret that, it is evil,

but when I have weed, i tend not to smoke as much. Where as I'll smoke 25 - 3- cigs a day (bad I know), I'll only smoke about 10 - 13 joints.

Also, even though I love smoking it, I always go 3 or 4 days without it a week. Not because I can't get it, but it's just nice to be straight for a while.....I certainely have no trouble going to sleep without it.