Why Am I So Strongly Opposed?

[Jangle]

There are negatives too. It's effect on especially young brain, it's abuse etc are equally established
. [1 cm = 0.393700 inch]

Does weed have more negative effect on young brains than tobacco and alcohol, if so, show me the research.

[Jangle]

Weed mashup nuff youths .

How?

[HL]

I don't know if your question is beyond the scope of this thread--but a juss dough feel like going into further debate Jangle.

Suffice it to say...abstention from all--and you are ahead of the game!

[Assasin]

Put it this way, a nuh everybody fi smoke weed. Mi man spoke some weed and run pass mi say man a shoot after him. Nuff man mi see smoke it and almost pass out, others a smoke Chalice all them life and functional. Other things within the body maybe at play but weed smoking especially "excessive weed smoking" is not for everybody.

[Sir X]

The establishment of abuse is based on the criminalisation process,those who opt for treatment or given treatment with jail time and here lies the real abuse.You criminalise an individual then label them an addict when they have no option to get out of jail, but babylon money making treatment clinic den say ganja mash up di youth.

Its like outlawing jerk chicken/pork ,locking them up and offering treatment to stop eating jerk,then labelling them an addict when you catch them jerking again .....thats the addiction abuse etc being equally established.

The question to the powers that be is why dont they stop arent they aware of the consequences ? The retort is simple you cant criminalise a cultural use ,worst yet when that cultural use is reinforced daily in music and yes high unemployment.

Madness.

[Muadib]

Wait.. Ganja is illegal in Jamaica ?

Must be like buggery...

Might as well be making the most economic use of something that is illegal on paper and prevents impactful legitimate commercial exploitation while allowing casual illegal use..

and never need fi bun none to vision dat..

Critical Thinking.....

[Islandman]

I would say that excessive weed smoking is not good for ANYBODY.

My thing is this, if alcohol can be legal, and mushroom is legal then weed should not be illegal. All have uses, all can be deadly if abused. People dead now and again from eating ackee before its time. Should we ban ackee too?

If someone opposed to legalization of weed also believes that alcohol should be illegal, then at least I can see some consistency there. Otherwise the position is most likely as a result of a socialized bias.

[Sir X]

This myth ,yes I say myth that ganja is addictive will be torn to shreds soon.I dont believe it,which leads me to conclude its a billing issue for some MDs.I have looked at the research and done my own windshield survey.The 1st thing about addiction is a high % have an underliying psychiatrict issue.Ganja has been proven to inhibit and in some cases excaerbate psychiatric illnesses.Jamaicans tend to blame ganja because of ignorance like the MD above.Sad but true.This broadbrush that we paint others like Sass has done ..ganja mash up nuff youth..thats a lie out of ignorance or the establishment of abuse is again quack studies.I predict insurance companies are going to reject the quacks in the future.Every study as to its negative effects from brain damage,lung to cancer ,psychosis is being debunked as quack science Dr Tasshkin a Pulmonoogist stated as such.Jamaica MDs arent into science but Quackness.This Md in the above article did one good thing refer the lady to the ER , his assesment was poor , a lady presenting signs of back pain and head ache with a history of spinal stenosis and his rule out Dx is ganja toxicity ? Not a tumour ..then again the Quack in him will blame ganja for the tumor .I will give the opponents this , ganja should not be given to young minds because the potential for damage is possible and even that is inconclusive but ,lets weigh on the caution side there, and it should not be used in conjunction with anyother drug, thats another point what if this lady took her blood pressure medication with her ganja tea ?..... especially alcohol unless recommended by a MD because it will potentiate it.

Marijuana use is not marijuana abuse. According to the US Institute of Medicine’s 1999 Report: “Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base,” “Millions of Americans have tried marijuana, but most are not regular users, … [and] few marijuana users become dependent on it.”68 In fact, less than 10 percent of marijuana users ever exhibit symptoms of dependence (as defined by the American Psychiatric Association's DSM-IV criteria.)69 By comparison 15 percent of alcohol users, 17 percent of cocaine users, and a whopping 32 percent of cigarette smokers statistically exhibit symptoms of drug dependence.70

Marijuana is well recognized as lacking the so-called "dependence liability" of other substances. According to the IOM, “Experimental animals that are given the opportunity to self administer cannabinoids generally do not choose to do so, which has led to the conclusion that they are not reinforcing or rewarding.”71 Among humans, most marijuana users voluntarily cease their marijuana smoking by their late 20s or early 30s – often citing health or professional concerns and/or the decision to start a family.72 Contrast this pattern with that of the typical tobacco smoker – many of whom begin as teens and continue smoking daily the rest of their lives.

That's not to say that some marijuana smokers do not become psychologically dependent on marijuana or find quitting difficult. But a comprehensive study released in 2002 by the Canadian Senate concluded that this dependence "is less severe and less frequent than dependence on other psychotropic substances, including alcohol and tobacco."73 Observable withdrawal symptoms attributable to marijuana are also exceedingly rare. According to the Institute of Medicine, these symptoms are “mild and short lived”74 compared to the profound physical withdrawal symptoms of other drugs, such as alcohol or heroin, and unlikely to persuade former smokers to re-initiate their marijuana use.
Allegations that marijuana smoking alters brain function or has long-term effects on cognition are reckless and scientifically unfounded. Federally sponsored population studies conducted in Jamaica, Greece and Costa Rica found no significant differences in brain function between long-term smokers and non-users.48 Similarly, a 1999 study of 1,300 volunteers published in The American Journal of Epidemiology reported "no significant differences in cognitive decline between heavy users, light users, and nonusers of cannabis” over a 15-year period.49 More recently, a meta-analysis of neuropsychological studies of long-term marijuana smokers by the National Institute on Drug Abuse reaffirmed this conclusion.50 In addition, a study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal in April 2002 reported that even former heavy marijuana smokers experience no negative measurable effects on intelligence quotient.51

Most recently, researchers at Harvard Medical School performed magnetic resonance imaging on the brains of 22 long-term cannabis users (reporting a mean of 20,100 lifetime episodes of smoking) and 26 controls (subjects with no history of cannabis use). Imaging displayed "no significant differences" between heavy cannabis smokers compared to controls. "These findings are consistent with recent literature suggesting that cannabis use is not associated with structural changes within the brain as a whole or the hippocampus in particular," authors concluded.52

Claims specifically charging that marijuana leads to brain changes similar to those induced by heroin and cocaine are based solely on the results of a handful of animal studies that demonstrated that THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana) can stimulate dopamine production under certain extreme conditions, and that the immediate cessation of THC (via the administration of a chemical blocking agent) will initiate some mild symptoms of withdrawal. These findings have little bearing on the human population because, according to the US Institute of Medicine, “The long half-life and slow elimination from the body of THC … prevent[s] substantial abstinence symptoms” in humans.53 As a result, such symptoms have only been identified in rare, unique patient settings – limited to adolescents in treatment for substance abuse, or in clinical research trials where volunteers are administered marijuana or THC daily.54

http://norml.org/library/item/your-g...bout-marijuana
Study: Smoking Marijuana Not Linked with Lung Damage

Marijuana smokers performed better on tests of lung function compared to nonsmokers and cigarette smokers



Read more: Study: Smoking Marijuana Not Linked with Lung Damage | TIME.com http://healthland.time.com/2012/01/1...#ixzz2va5AZabL
Dr. Donald TashkinDr. Donald Tashkin

Emeritus Professor of Medicine UCLA
Medical Director of UCLA Pulmonary Function Laboratory


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Md2WNqqxTQ