`For starters, she says, the “addiction potential of marijuana is as high or higher than some other drug,” especially for young people. About 30% of those who use cannabis have some degree of a use disorder. By comparison, only 13.5% of drinkers are estimated to be dependent on alcohol. Sure, alcohol can also cause harm if consumed in excess. But Ms. Madras sees several other distinctions.
One or two drinks will cause only mild inebriation, while “most people who use marijuana are using it to become intoxicated and to get high.” Academic outcomes and college completion rates for young people are much worse for those who use marijuana than for those who drink, though there’s a caveat: “It’s still a chicken and egg whether or not these kids are more susceptible to the effects of marijuana or they’re using marijuana for self-medication or what have you.”
Marijuana and alcohol both interfere with driving, but with the former there are no medical “cutoff points” to determine whether it’s safe to get behind the wheel. As a result, prohibitions against driving under the influence are less likely to be enforced for people who are high. States where marijuana is legal have seen increases in car accidents.
One of the biggest differences between the two substances is how the body metabolizes them. A drink will clear your system within a couple of hours. “You may wake up after binge drinking in the morning with a headache, but the alcohol is gone.” By contrast, “marijuana just sits there and sits there and promotes brain adaptation.”
That’s worse than it sounds. “We always think of the brain as gray matter,” Ms. Madras says. “But the brain uses fat to insulate its electrical activity, so it has a massive amount of fat called white matter, which is fatty. And that’s where marijuana gets soaked up. . . . My lab showed unequivocally that blood levels and brain levels don’t correspond at all—that brain levels are much higher than blood levels. They’re two to three times higher, and they persist once blood levels go way down.” Even if people quit using pot, “it can persist in their brain for a while.”`
I suspect I damaged my liver somewhat with my drug of choice. I don't do that anymore, and I've come to think that alcohol, tobacco, red meat, soda, and gas stoves should probably be banned by the federal government as well (and plenty of other things). I have no problem adding marijuana to that list, but ultimately, it seems that we value individual freedom rather highly, and I suspect the WSJ would agree with that view if the issue of marijuana did not code left wing. I believe they would call my idealized interventions "The Nanny State".
I have witnessed first hand cannabis induced psychosis. It isn’t common (and was thankfully temporary) but it is certainly very real, and a major risk for those affected by it.
What does 100% certain even mean, if it's unclear with what else that cannabis may have been laced/contaminated(has subject been in quarantine under exactly controlled conditions, and consumed drugs measured with gas chromatography?), and/or which other drugs may have been consumed(but not disclosed)? Or maybe had some sports induced brain lesion, but don't remember anymore?
I don't give a shit about statements like these. They are no better than a bunch of screaming monkeys throwing sticks up in the sky during a thunderstorm.
Ouk! Ouk! Ouk!
> And psychoactive effects of canabbis are well documented in other cases
So what? The same goes for alcohol, some foods, countless prescription medications, even social circumstances, maybe even the phases of the moon.
> Daily cannabis use was associated with increased odds of psychotic disorder compared with never users (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 3·2, 95% CI 2·2–4·1), increasing to nearly five-times increased odds for daily use of high-potency types of cannabis (4·8, 2·5–6·3).
I'm still unconvinced. Because which 'cannabis' are we talking about here?
Some organically grown sweet stuff, or sprayed with isecti-, fungi-, herbicides which usually contain organophosphates, which are neurotoxic, thus ARE a constituent of bug spray. Not to mention all the other shit it can be laced with to make it more heavy, tacky, and glittery. Does the blood work even account for those ? Even gas chromatography is not star-trekky tricorder-like.
Even if it could be, would it be used under budgetary constraints?
edit: Meanwhile I've read that whole f-ing thing, and it is like I imagined. A prime sample of the so called replication crisis.
The only useful information is: Meta-analysis shows a dose–response association with the highest odds of psychotic disorder in those with the heaviest cannabis use.
Oh really? Who would have thought?
Furthermore they DIDN'T test the samples provided by the 1130 participants, because that would only show a single point in time, instead relying on even less samples from the participating regions, fabricating statistics. And only testing for Delta9-THC.
Some of us still remember "Just Say No" days. We heard all about the negative effects of all the drugs that weren't prescribed.
Cannabis is particularly reviled by the medical industry, because it is so variable in effect between individuals. It is difficult to observe that and not realize that the individual's variations also impact the metabolism and effects of the prescribed drugs, which undermines the cathedral of the medical industry's promises. They don't like that.
The fact that cannabis is also a better solution for many of the "mood disorder" problems that make so much money for the medical industry gives them another reason to dislike it: its effective competition that they cannot control or profit from.
The interviewee tweets at https://twitter.com/madras_bertha
`For starters, she says, the “addiction potential of marijuana is as high or higher than some other drug,” especially for young people. About 30% of those who use cannabis have some degree of a use disorder. By comparison, only 13.5% of drinkers are estimated to be dependent on alcohol. Sure, alcohol can also cause harm if consumed in excess. But Ms. Madras sees several other distinctions.
One or two drinks will cause only mild inebriation, while “most people who use marijuana are using it to become intoxicated and to get high.” Academic outcomes and college completion rates for young people are much worse for those who use marijuana than for those who drink, though there’s a caveat: “It’s still a chicken and egg whether or not these kids are more susceptible to the effects of marijuana or they’re using marijuana for self-medication or what have you.”
Marijuana and alcohol both interfere with driving, but with the former there are no medical “cutoff points” to determine whether it’s safe to get behind the wheel. As a result, prohibitions against driving under the influence are less likely to be enforced for people who are high. States where marijuana is legal have seen increases in car accidents.
One of the biggest differences between the two substances is how the body metabolizes them. A drink will clear your system within a couple of hours. “You may wake up after binge drinking in the morning with a headache, but the alcohol is gone.” By contrast, “marijuana just sits there and sits there and promotes brain adaptation.”
That’s worse than it sounds. “We always think of the brain as gray matter,” Ms. Madras says. “But the brain uses fat to insulate its electrical activity, so it has a massive amount of fat called white matter, which is fatty. And that’s where marijuana gets soaked up. . . . My lab showed unequivocally that blood levels and brain levels don’t correspond at all—that brain levels are much higher than blood levels. They’re two to three times higher, and they persist once blood levels go way down.” Even if people quit using pot, “it can persist in their brain for a while.”`