quote:

Five intriguing marijuana finds

However, a recently released study from Dr. Wayne Hall, a the director of the Centre for Youth Substance Abuse Research at the University of Queensland, sheds new light, both good and bad, on long-term marijuana use.

Hall's study examined the effect of marijuana over a 20-year period (1993-2013), and was made possible by the fact that recreational cannabis use has risen, and stronger cannabis has become available in recent years. Hall's review notes that between 1980 and 2006, the amount of THC found in marijuana increased more than fourfold to 8.5% from less than 2%.

Specifically, Hall's review led to five intriguing findings about marijuana.

1. It's essentially impossible to overdose on marijuana
One of the most common comments I've received in my research into medical marijuana from readers is that "no one has ever overdosed from smoking marijuana." This turns to out to practically be true, according to Hall's review. The study points out that it would take between 15 grams and 70 grams of marijuana to cause someone to overdose, which is an amount higher than even a heavy user could consume in a day.

By comparison, opioid analgesics, which are commonly used to treat pain, one of the indications for which marijuana is typically prescribed, led to 16,007 deaths in 2012 based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In other words, the implication is that marijuana might be a solution to dramatically reducing opioid-related overdose deaths.

2. Marijuana use and driving don't mix
We know that drinking and driving don't mix, but Dr. Hall's study, which included a meta-analysis of drivers who smoked and a control group that didn't, definitively showed that smoking marijuana nearly doubles your risk of an accident.

Why does this matter? A number of states are beginning to legalize marijuana for recreational use, so there's concern we could see an increase in accidents caused by marijuana. Further, the review in Australia notes that public education about the dangers of driving under the influence of marijuana may not be enough to deter drivers. There would have to be a real fear of their cannabis use being detected by law enforcement in order to get drivers to give up their keys.

3. Cannabis addiction exists, especially in adolescents
A good chunk of negative marijuana studies focus on the drugs' effect in adolescents. It turns out that those fears may be on target. Per Dr. Hall's review, cannabis addiction does exist, and it's more prevalent in adolescents than adults. One in 10 adults who use marijuana on a regular basis become addicted to it compared to one in six adolescents.

4. Marijuana can negatively impact your IQ
It turns out that marijuana can actually lower your IQ as well, but according to the review, only if you're a heavy marijuana user. The study notes that "these effects on IQ were only found in the small proportion of cannabis users who initiated in adolescence and persisted in daily use throughout their 20s and into their 30s." This news mirrors a recent abstract we examined that showed marijuana users on average had a slightly lower IQ than non-users.

In addition to potentially lower IQs, the review also suggests that cannabis use is strongly associated with the use of other illicit drugs.

5. Marijuana's long-term effect on respiratory health is inconclusive
Lastly, Dr. Hall's study also brought up one glaring inconclusive finding: that being whether smoking marijuana had a negative effect on the users' respiratory function. Previous studies have gone both ways on this question, and this review notes that there's no conclusive evidence that smoking marijuana will lead to reduced respiratory function or respiratory cancer. The primary reason this turned out inconclusive is because most marijuana users were also smoking tobacco products, making it impossible to differentiate the effect on the body of one from the other.

Based on the study's findings, the outlook for medical marijuana and recreational marijuana is widely bifurcated.

With inconclusive data on the long-term respiratory effects of marijuana, and given the fact that a person's chances of overdosing from marijuana are extremely slim, it potentially strengthens the case for exploring marijuana's medical benefit profile. Let's remember that marijuana can be absorbed a number of ways beyond smoking, so the respiratory concern can possibly be eliminated.

quote:

Originally posted by Gatogordo:

quote:

Five intriguing marijuana finds

However, a recently released study from Dr. Wayne Hall, a the director of the Centre for Youth Substance Abuse Research at the University of Queensland, sheds new light, both good and bad, on long-term marijuana use.

Hall's study examined the effect of marijuana over a 20-year period (1993-2013), and was made possible by the fact that recreational cannabis use has risen, and stronger cannabis has become available in recent years. Hall's review notes that between 1980 and 2006, the amount of THC found in marijuana increased more than fourfold to 8.5% from less than 2%.

Specifically, Hall's review led to five intriguing findings about marijuana.

1. It's essentially impossible to overdose on marijuana
One of the most common comments I've received in my research into medical marijuana from readers is that "no one has ever overdosed from smoking marijuana." This turns to out to practically be true, according to Hall's review. The study points out that it would take between 15 grams and 70 grams of marijuana to cause someone to overdose, which is an amount higher than even a heavy user could consume in a day.

By comparison, opioid analgesics, which are commonly used to treat pain, one of the indications for which marijuana is typically prescribed, led to 16,007 deaths in 2012 based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In other words, the implication is that marijuana might be a solution to dramatically reducing opioid-related overdose deaths.

2. Marijuana use and driving don't mix
We know that drinking and driving don't mix, but Dr. Hall's study, which included a meta-analysis of drivers who smoked and a control group that didn't, definitively showed that smoking marijuana nearly doubles your risk of an accident.

Why does this matter? A number of states are beginning to legalize marijuana for recreational use, so there's concern we could see an increase in accidents caused by marijuana. Further, the review in Australia notes that public education about the dangers of driving under the influence of marijuana may not be enough to deter drivers. There would have to be a real fear of their cannabis use being detected by law enforcement in order to get drivers to give up their keys.

3. Cannabis addiction exists, especially in adolescents
A good chunk of negative marijuana studies focus on the drugs' effect in adolescents. It turns out that those fears may be on target. Per Dr. Hall's review, cannabis addiction does exist, and it's more prevalent in adolescents than adults. One in 10 adults who use marijuana on a regular basis become addicted to it compared to one in six adolescents.

4. Marijuana can negatively impact your IQ
It turns out that marijuana can actually lower your IQ as well, but according to the review, only if you're a heavy marijuana user. The study notes that "these effects on IQ were only found in the small proportion of cannabis users who initiated in adolescence and persisted in daily use throughout their 20s and into their 30s." This news mirrors a recent abstract we examined that showed marijuana users on average had a slightly lower IQ than non-users.

In addition to potentially lower IQs, the review also suggests that cannabis use is strongly associated with the use of other illicit drugs.

5. Marijuana's long-term effect on respiratory health is inconclusive
Lastly, Dr. Hall's study also brought up one glaring inconclusive finding: that being whether smoking marijuana had a negative effect on the users' respiratory function. Previous studies have gone both ways on this question, and this review notes that there's no conclusive evidence that smoking marijuana will lead to reduced respiratory function or respiratory cancer. The primary reason this turned out inconclusive is because most marijuana users were also smoking tobacco products, making it impossible to differentiate the effect on the body of one from the other.

Based on the study's findings, the outlook for medical marijuana and recreational marijuana is widely bifurcated.

With inconclusive data on the long-term respiratory effects of marijuana, and given the fact that a person's chances of overdosing from marijuana are extremely slim, it potentially strengthens the case for exploring marijuana's medical benefit profile. Let's remember that marijuana can be absorbed a number of ways beyond smoking, so the respiratory concern can possibly be eliminated.

quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:
Lets move on and focus on serious national social and economic issues.

quote:

Originally posted by Grumulkin:

quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:
Lets move on and focus on serious national social and economic issues.

A good place to start would be with the Hollywood movie industry that glorifies violence, druggies and various other immoral activities.

quote:

Originally posted by fla3006:
Isolated incidents, I know.

quote:

Originally posted by Gatogordo:
Another strict constructionist that wants to step all over someone else's Constitutional Rights (First Amendment, freedom of speech) because he doesn't like the usage of parts of it. Using the same logic the Second Amendment would be gone long ago.

quote:

Grumulkin: haven't found one whose life was made better by drugs and know a number who died well before their time because of them

quote:

Originally posted by fla3006:

quote:

Grumulkin: haven't found one whose life was made better by drugs and know a number who died well before their time because of them

My experience too.

quote:

IMO, the costs of the "war on drugs", a totally lost effort,

quote:

Originally posted by Gatogordo:

Anybody in here consume alcohol? If so, has your life been made better by it? If so, explain how. If not, then I suspect hypocrisy strikes again.

quote:

Originally posted by JTEX:

But the dealers? I would happily give them the death sentence or life at hard labor. The mules packing the stuff in? They'd get the same.

quote:

Death sentence for marihuana! You must be out of your mind.

quote:

Originally posted by Gatogordo:

quote:

Originally posted by fla3006:

quote:

Grumulkin: haven't found one whose life was made better by drugs and know a number who died well before their time because of them

My experience too.

Anybody in here consume alcohol? If so, has your life been made better by it? If so, explain how. If not, then I suspect hypocrisy strikes again.

There is ABSOLUTELY NO QUESTION that, barring the current legal status, the personal health and societal costs of alcohol usage FAR EXCEED the costs of marijuana usage. Addiction is addiction, just because one uses one or the other does not make an addict. Just as a start, on the societal costs, over 10,000 driving deaths yearly directly related to alcohol THAT ALL DIED "before their time", if you define such as a natural cause of death.

IMO, the costs of the "war on drugs", a totally lost effort, far exceed the costs of legalization, control, education, etc. We, as a society, and mostly us, the taxpayers, spend billions of dollars a year incarcerating people for victimless crimes and many billions more trying to enforce the anti-drug laws. There has to be a better way.

I am, by no means, suggesting that drug legalization would be without costs, but I am stating that the current situation is worse.

Again, addicts will be addicts, regardless of the addictive choice, that is a fact unless they choose to change. Some do, most don't.

quote:

Originally posted by Kensco:
I think there are enough drug users on the road today without legalizing a hallucinogenic.

I liked the doper the other day that lost his job, in Colorado I believe, because he was a pothead on the job. His excuse was something about him thinking marijuana was legal. He thought he was just exercising his legal rights.

There has to be some controls whether marijuana is legal or not. Nobody should have to work around others on dope, that might get you killed. I don't need to be hit by a doped-up driver on the highway, or operated on by a dope-smoking surgeon, etc.

quote:

Originally posted by Grumulkin:
With alcohol it's easy to tell if a person is intoxicated and easy to test for it. There is no test that will permit a police officer to readily test for marijuana usage and even if there was, since marijuana metabolites stick around for quite awhile there isn't a way to tell if the presence of the metabolites indicates recent use.

quote:

Originally posted by Mikelravy:
Why do you think the federal government has not advertised the fact that marijuana impairs driving? They've been trying to justify outlawing it for years and the testing they have done has not shown measurable impairment. You need to talk to cancer patients about medicinal use.

quote:

Originally posted by jb:
the amount of mis information in this thread is staggering.