Interlopers.net Forum - Half-Life 2 News & Tutorials

Saxon wrote:It's funny how round those figures are...

Do these magical figures also dispute all the people dying in gang related drug wars? What about people who die driving whilst stoned?

Myth: Marijuana is a dangerous drug
Any discussion of marijuana should begin with the fact that there have been numerous official reports and studies, every one of which has concluded that marijuana poses no great risk to society and should not be criminalized. These include:

* the National Academy of Sciences Analysis of Marijuana Policy (1982);
* the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse (the Shafer Report) (1973);
* the Canadian Government's Commission of Inquiry (Le Dain Report) (1970);
* the British Advisory Committee on Drug Dependency (Wooton Report) (1968);
* the La Guardia Report (1944);
* the Panama Canal Zone Military Investigations (1916-29);
* and Britain's monumental Indian Hemp Drugs Commission (1893-4).

It is sometimes claimed that there is ``new evidence'' showing marijuana is more harmful than was thought in the sixties. In fact, the most recent studies have tended to confirm marijuana's safety, refuting claims that it causes birth defects, brain damag e, reduced testosterone, or increased drug abuse problems.

The current consensus is well stated in the 20th annual report of the California Research Advisory Panel (1990), which recommended that personal use and cultivation of marijuana be legalized: "An objective consideration of marijuana shows that it is respo nsible for less damage to society and the individual than are alcohol and cigarettes."

References: The National Academy of Sciences report, Marijuana and Health (National Academy Press, 1982), remains the most useful overview of the health effects of marijuana, its major conclusions remaining largely unaffected by the last 10 years of research. Lovinger and Jones, The Marihuana Question (Dod d, Mead & Co., NY 1985), is the most exhaustive and fair-handed summary of the evidence against marijuana. Good, positive perspectives may be found in Lester Grinspoon's Marihuana, the Forbidden Medicine (Yale Press, 1993) and Marihuana Reconsidere d (Harvard U. Press 1971), which debunks many of the older anti-pot myths. See also Leo Hollister, Health Aspects of Cannabis, Pharmacological Reviews 38:1-20 (1986).

Up to the Table of Myths.

Myth: Marijuana is harmless
Just as most experts agree that occasional or moderate use of marijuana is innocuous, they also agree that excessive use can be harmful. Research shows that the two major risks of excessive marijuana use are:

1. respiratory disease due to smoking and
2. accidental injuries due to impairment.

Marijuana and Smoking:A recent survey by the Kaiser Permanente Center found that daily marijuana-only smokers have a 19% higher rate of respiratory complaints than non-smokers.(1) These findings were not unexpected, since it has long been known that, aside from its psychoactive ingredients, marijuana smoke contains virtually the same toxic gases and carcinogenic tars as tobacco. Human studies have found that pot smokers suffer similar kinds of respiratory damage as tobacco smokers, putting them at greater risk of bronchitis, sore throat, respiratory inflammation and infections.(2)

Although there has not been enough epidemiological work to settle the matter definitively, it is widely suspected that marijuana smoking causes cancer. Studies have found apparently pre-cancerous cell changes in pot smokers.(3) Some cancer specialists have reported a higher-than-expected incidence of throat, neck and tongue cancer in younger, marijuana-only smokers.(4) A couple of cases have been fatal. While it has not been conclusively proven that marijuana smoking causes lung cancer, the evidence is highly suggestive. According to Dr. Donald Tashkin of UCLA, the leading expert on marijuana smoking:(5)"Although more information is certainly needed, sufficient data have already been accumulated concerning the health effects of marijuana to warrant counseling by physicians against the smoking of marijuana as an important hazard to health." Fortunately, the hazards of marijuana smoking can be reduced by various strategies:

1. use of higher-potency cannabis, which can be smoked in smaller quantities,
2. use of waterpipes and other smoke reduction technologies,(6) and
3. ingesting pot orally instead of smoking it.

Major banter wrote:I think Cannabis should be monitored and legalised for a single reason - control.

Hollow wrote:Why has this now turned solely into a debate about the legalization of marijuana and it's minor effects? Lol.

Hollow wrote:Why has this now turned solely into a debate about the legalization of marijuana and it's minor effects? Lol.

zombie@computer wrote:

Hollow wrote:Why has this now turned solely into a debate about the legalization of marijuana and it's minor effects? Lol.

Some people seem quite fierce in trying to make other people believe them. It's like discussing with conspiracy theorists