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5 Discoveries About Marijuana That You Won't Hear in the Corporate Media
Paul Armentano of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) reports via AlterNet
Scientific discoveries are published almost daily in regard to the healing properties of the cannabis. But most of these findings appear solely in subscription-only peer-reviewed journals and, therefore, go largely unnoticed by the mainstream media and by the public. Here are five just-published cannabis-centric studies that warrant attention.
- Men Who Smoke Pot Possess a Reduced Risk of Bladder Cancer
- Long-Term Pot Exposure Isn't Damaging to Lung Health
- Alcohol, Not Pot, Alters the Brain
- Marijuana Use Doesn't Lead to Depression
- Marijuana Possesses a Unique Margin of Safety Compared to Other legal and Illegal Drugs
Cannabis is Bad for You, Cannabis is Good for You - Confused?
The BBC's Radio 4 has been running a series this week regarding the use and abuse of cannabis in the UK, and they offer this report of part of the discussions that have been aired. From the report:
Cannabis is bad for you, cannabis is good for you - confused? That's not surprising. Complicated and controversial, cannabis is revealed by recent science to have a dual personality, with a dark side and a more positive one. Radio 4's PM programme is this week running a whole series on cannabis, and the debate surrounding it.
Key to understanding this strange plant are two of the ingredients that make it up, known by their initials as THC and CBD. I asked Professor Val Curran of University College London to describe how they work and she came up a memorable answer:
"In a way, THC and CBD are a bit like yin and yang. The THC makes you stoned, but it can also make you anxious. It can also make you feel a bit psychotic, and it will seriously impair your memory.
"The other side of the yin/yang is CBD, which has almost the opposite effects. CBD calms you down, it has anti-psychotic properties and it also offsets the effects on memory, so that on CBD-containing cannabis you're less likely to forget what's going on."
So the first step to understanding cannabis is to realise how it can vary, how different types contain very different quantities of these polar opposites, with dramatically different outcomes.
One of the problems highlighted is that the cannabis available today (particularly 'skunk') is often much stronger than was available 20 - 30 years ago, and the balance of THC to CBD has changed, with potentially serious consequences. For example: "If you smoke high-potency skunk at all, then you are three times more likely to be psychotic. If you smoke high-potency cannabis every day, you are five times more likely to be psychotic." There is much more in the article, so give it a look.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 21 2015, @12:29PM
Let me start by saying the plural of anecdote is not data.
I am still going to share my anecdote with you though.
I am a veteran who has PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and Mild TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury). After I was discharged from the service I actually ended up in a two year slump. I lived in a small apartment, leaving only often enough to buy cigarettes. I was unemployable at the time as even the tiniest stressor could cause me to flip out either angry or crying. I made it though the day primarily by drinking. To say I was depressed at this time would be an understatement. I was damn near suicidal. I had ruined my relationship with my girlfriend, my friends, and my family.
It was actually my VA social worker who in a roundabout way suggested pot as she had seen it help another of other veterans. It did help. It helped me calm my emotions down enough to gain control of them. I was no longer flipping out and scaring those around me. This let me start to work on my social skills again and get used to being a civilian again. It took a while but I was able to work myself up to going back to school. Pot helped me get my emotions under control, when the Box'o'pills the VA sent me every month did not. This allowed me to get back to being a human being. I now have a great job, a wonderful girlfirend and I smoke pot daily.
So to anyone who feels we should leave alcohol legal (the shit almost killed me) and pot illegal (the shit I credit with saving my life), well they can just go fuck themselves.
(Score: 1) by JNCF on Saturday February 21 2015, @08:48PM
I totally get where you're coming from, I even modded your post Insightful when I first read it. Then I remembered that you're replying to a man who has just told you that his son has cancer. Maybe not the best time to tell somebody to go fuck himself?
He's still opposed to you having freedoms, I just think it ideal to debate fascists politely.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 22 2015, @01:42AM
I am the AC you replied to.
Maybe the wording was strong. I feel for his son and I hope he recovers fully.
To the parent, I apologize and wish the best for you and yours. I still take the position that you are incorrect. I wish you would keep an open mind and continue to look at the evidence. I am far from the only veteran who turned to this.