Medical Marijuana

[Ska]

I'm curious if people here are away of the vast medical benefits of marijuana? They don't tend to make the news often (which doesn't surprise me), so I'm not sure if people who don't smoke would have any knowledge.

I'll begin saying that marijuana has been used as medicine for a very long time, until it was made illegal in 1937. Today, the government maintains the stance that marijuana has "no accepted medicinal value," despite the fact that they have been secretly been supplying people weed for medicinal purposes (saying they're a "part of a clinical study to investigate a potential new drug." Why do they do this? So they can maintain the classification of marijuana as a Schedule 1 Drug, and make lots and lots of money prosecuting people for using it, selling it, and growing it. You guys may not know it, but a large part of the world's economy is dependable on the illegal drug trade.. But I am digressing.


Here are the medical benefits of mairjuana:
http://medicalmarijuana.procon.org


I bet there's a good number of you who thinks smoking marijuana causes lung cancer. That's not true, as smoking marijuana, even regularly, and heavily, has shown no link to lung, head, or neck cancer. It actually has anti-cancer properties, and can kill bad cells while leaving the good ones alone.

Here's some articles dealing with that and other things:

Study finds non-marijuana users twice as likely to develop cancer

Five Things You may Know About Marijuana That Aren't True

http://www.marijuana.com/drug-war-h...improved-neurocognition-bipolar-patients.html

Run From the Cure Part 1
Run From the Cure Part 2
Run From the Cure Part 3
Run From the Cure Part 4
Run From the Cure Part 5
Run From the Cure Part 6
Run From the Cure Part 7


If you guys are interested I can dig up more...let me know.

 

[Adymus]

I believe smoking anything at all, can lead to lung cancer, but that can be easily solved by using a vaporizer or a volcano.

For your health...

 

[Ska]

You know that study the government like to reference when spreading their propaganda, about how 1 joint = so many cigarettes. Well tel me what you think about this:

1. One joint equals a pack of cigarettes.

This hoary old favorite comes back again and again, seemingly impervious to the onslaught of the real world.

Prohibitionists earnestly tell us that smoking just one joint “equals a pack of cigarettes.” Or maybe it’s 16, or maybe just four cigarettes; they seem a little unclear on the exact number.

This fallacious conclusion is derived from a study by Dr. Donald Tashkin in which the UCLA researcher examined airflow resistance in the lungs of tobacco smokers compared to that in the lungs of marijuana smokers. Dr. Tashkin did find that daily pot smokers experience a “mild but significant” increase in airflow resistance in the large airways, greater than that seen in persons smoking 16 cigarettes per day.

But what they don’t tell you is that, ironically, Dr. Tashkin also found – in the largest study ever of its kind – other, more important markers of lung health, in which marijuana smokers did much better than tobacco smokers. In the four years since Dr. Tashkin’s latest study results were announced, I’ve never heard a single anti-marijuana speaker mention this.

They also never seem to have time to mention that Dr. Tashkin’s study unexpectedly found that smoking marijuana – even regularly and heavily! – does not lead to lung cancer.

Dr. Tashkin said these results “were against our expectations.”

“We hypothesized that there would be a positive association between marijuana use and lung cancer, and that the association would be more positive with heavier use,” Dr. Tashkin said. “What we found instead was no assication at all, and even a suggestion of some protective effect.”

 

[onthewindowstand]

Legalizing drugs would even help schools graduate more kids who would know more. There are so many things that legalizing is good for.

 

[Adymus]

I'm going go ahead and copy/paste something a local chemistry expert of another forum I used to post on posted:

Smoking, or even just heating ANY resinous plant matter pumps out a slew of nasty little hydrocarbons ranging from benzene to acetone, cyanide, toluene... A whole fucking truck-tonne of mixed phenols, most of which undergo hydroxylation to benzyl alcohol by members of the cytochrome P450 superfamily, in particular the main five CYPs we're looking at; A2, B6, E1, C8, and A1. The first four seem to be involved in the hydroxylation of toluene to benzyl alcohol. CYP2El seems to be the primary enzyme in the hydroxylation of toluene, accounting for roughly 44% of toluene metabolism; however, there is a great deal of ethnic variability, in the scandanavian population, for example the primary enzyme is CYP2B6 - Which means that all those native amsterdamites pumping pot every day are at an even greater risk/. CYP2E1 catalyses the formation of benzyl alcohol and para-cresol, while CYP2B6 produces comparatively little para-cresol.

In people, benzyl alcohol is pushed to benzaldehyde (which is handy in itself for a number of amphetamine synthesis...) by CYP rather than alcohol dehydrogenase; but there is some circumstantial evidence to suggest that the ratio of CYP:AdHA is a case-by-case thing... so smoking pot greratly increases your chances of liver disease if you also happen to drink heavilly. Benzaldehyde is in turn metabolised to benzoic acid, primarily by mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase-2, while only a small percentage is metabolised by cytosolic ALDH-1 - Which is a bit of a shame, because the byproducts of ALDH-2 vs -1 are much more mutagenic.

Benzoic acid is metabolised to either benzoyl glucuronide or hippuric acid. Benzoyl glucuronide is produced by the reaction of benzoic acid with glucuronic acid, which accounts for 10-20% of benzoic acid elimination. Hippuric acid is also known as benzoylglycine and is produced from benzoic acid in a two step phase; both of which have viciously toxic byproducts.

Ring hydroxylation to cresols is a minor pathway in the metabolism of any of the phenols present in cannabis resin, of which there are shit-tonnes. The majority of the cresol is excreted unchanged in urine; however, some of the p-cresol and o-cresol is excreted as a conjugate which somehow managed to be even nastier then the sum of the two on their own! Ain't weed grand?. Studies in rats (some of which I was party to) have shown that p-cresol is primarily conjugated with glucuronide to produce p-cresylglucuronide, though this may not be applicable to humans. o-cresol appears to be excreted mostly unchanged in urine or as the glucuronide or sulfate conjugate.

In terms of cancer alone, we're looking at mainly acute myeloid leukemia or acute non-lymphocytic leukaemia, but secondary roxicity related to phenol exposure is pushing psychoorganic syndrome; visual evoked potential abnormality; toxic polyneuropathy, cerebellar, cognitive, and pyramidal dysfunctions; optic atrophy; and brain lesions.

Toluene present in organic combustion by-products causes postural tremors by increasing extracellular concentrations of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) within the cerebellar cortex.

Treatment with GABA agonists such as, benzodiazepines provide some relief from induced tremor and ataxia stemming from heavy inhalant or smoke abuse. An alternative to drug treatment is vim thalamotomy, buuuuuuuuut considering that phenol-induced tremors are a permanent issue, once you've got 'em you're fucked.

've noticed significant evidence to suggest that in particular, marijuana smoke is much more dangerous then cigarette smoke as it may cause disruption in the differentiation of astrocyte precursor cells. This does not appear to be a major hazard to adults; however, exposure of pregnant women and teenagers during critical stages of development could cause serious disruption to neuronal growth...

dimethyl ketone, also a major constituent of the smoke, has a strongly hepatotoxic effect, and indeed can cause some paralysis of the optic nerve...The effects of long-term exposure to DMK are known mostly from animal studies. Kidney, liver, and nerve damage, increased birth defects, and lowered reproduction ability of males was found in animals... This is also found in cigarette smoke, and is one of the main chemicals responsible for impotence stemming form long-term tobacco smoking, but also from cannabis smoking... Interestingly, DMK has been shown to have anticonvulsant effects in animal models of epilepsy, in the absence of toxicity, when administered in millimolar concentrations. It has been hypothesized that the high fat low complex carbohydrate ketogenic diet used clinically to control drug-resistant epilepsy in children works by elevating acetone in the brain, and oddly enough, this is the same sort of diet that most chronic pot smokers tend towards because of the urges for 'munchies' and sugary, fatty junk foods...

 

[Ska]

Legalizing drugs would even help schools graduate more kids who know more. There are so many things that legalizing is good for.

Except for the economy that corruption has built on the illegal drug trade. This is why the UN has told the states that they should not support medical marijuana (yes, the UN telling individual states what to do!). Mexicos economy will basically collapse when marijuana is made legal in the US, because there is soooo much corruption down there. Something like 4,000+ civilians have died compared to like 3 soldiers in the last X amount of time in Juarez. It is ridiculous.

This is why I have lost all hope in politicians. I don't even know if I feel the need to vote anymore. There is no better example than medical marijuana/prohibition that the government doesn't care what the people want. Corporations have been deciding how this country is run for a long time now.

 

[onthewindowstand]

Regardless, even if it is unhealthy it should be legal.

 

[onthewindowstand]

Except for the economy that corruption has built on the illegal drug trade. This is why the UN has told the states that they should not support medical marijuana (yes, the UN telling individual states what to do!). Mexicos economy will basically collapse when marijuana is made legal in the US, because there is soooo much corruption down there. Something like 4,000+ civilians have died compared to like 3 soldiers in the last X amount of time in Juarez. It is ridiculous.

This is why I have lost all hope in politicians. I don't even know if I feel the need to vote anymore. There is no better example than medical marijuana/prohibition that the government doesn't care what the people want. Corporations have been deciding how this country is run for a long time now.

I don't give a fuck about mexico. The amount of people that support legalization is growing. I think it will be legal one day here in america.

 

[Ska]

Ok, so we know two things:

People who smoke weed have been shown in numerous studies to have less risk of cancer than non-users

Smoking anything can cause cancer

Studies have also shown that weed has adverse affects on cancer cells. So isn't it possible that the THC/CBN/CBD take care of that risk + more?

I'm telling you, many studies have shown cannabis has anti-cancerous properties. If governments didn't rely on it being illegal so much, this would be heralded as the next big thing in medicine. Another problem is that you can't patent a plant, meaning there's no money in it for Big Pharma.

It is all bullshit I tell you.

 

[Adymus]

Regardless, even if it is unhealthy it should be legal.

Dood, I'm all for Marijuana Legalization, what I am not for is misinformation, so I am just setting the record straight.

 

[Ska]

Regardless, even if it is unhealthy it should be legal.

Agreed 100%, all drugs should be legal. I wrote about legalizing drugs for half of my English assignments this year and came away with a B+.

When you have prohibition, you create a black market, which creates gang activity and violence.

We need to focus on treatment. If you are selling the drugs to the addicts, you know who is addicted and who needs help. Then you can place them and treatment programs and get them on with their lives.

Either way, ingesting something into YOUR body and not bothering others should in no way be a crime.

 

[Adymus]

Ok, so we know two things:

People who smoke weed have been shown in numerous studies to have less risk of cancer than non-users

Smoking anything can cause cancer

Studies have also shown that weed has adverse affects on cancer cells. So isn't it possible that the THC/CBN/CBD take care of that risk + more?

I'm telling you, many studies have shown cannabis has anti-cancerous properties. If governments didn't rely on it being illegal so much, this would be heralded as the next big thing in medicine. Another problem is that you can't patent a plant, meaning there's no money in it for Big Pharma.

It is all bullshit I tell you.

Actually I think you can patent a plant if you genetically engineer it.

 

[Ska]

Dood, I'm all for Marijuana Legalization, what I am not for is misinformation, so I am just setting the record straight.

So I guess a better statement would be that marijuana is not linked to lung cancer? Because clearly it is not.

 

[Ska]

Actually I think you can patent a plant if you genetically engineer it.

I just heard it in that video, so I trusted him.

"If you've found a new plant variety by discovering it in nature, you cannot obtain a patent for it, unless you can asexually reproduce it and prove the variety is stable, uniform and 'new'"

That's kind of vague to me, so I don't really know how it would apply.

 

[Adymus]

So I guess a better statement would be that marijuana is not linked to lung cancer? Because clearly it is not.

Not marijuana specifically.

There point is, that one plant should not be demonized if we are talking about cancer.

 

[Toad]

Bake them in cookies and brownies. Yummy!

 

[Anthile]

My experience is that a vast majority cannot handle any kind of addictive substances. So legalizing all drugs would be a fatal move.

 

[Alice?]

My experience is that a vast majority cannot handle any kind of addictive substances. So legalizing all drugs would be a fatal move.

Agreed, but marijuana is not physically addictive. Personally, I'm all for legalizing it. I heard it rumored that it might have a chance of making it onto California's voter's ballot in the near future.

 

[Ska]

Agreed, but marijuana is not physically addictive. Personally, I'm all for legalizing it. I heard it rumored that it might have a chance of making it onto California's voter's ballot in the near future.

Not just a chance, my friend. California WILL vote on legalizing legalizing marijuana in November. It's a done deal.

 

[Ska]

My experience is that a vast majority cannot handle any kind of addictive substances. So legalizing all drugs would be a fatal move.

1. Anyone who wants to get illegal drugs can/will now

2. A vast majority of society will still want to follow the social norms

3. If we are selling the drugs to the people, then we know who is addicted, and can get them help.

4. We don't ruin peoples lives for using drugs. Obama has admitted to using Cocaine. If he got caught he would never be where he is today. Why should it make that much of a difference?

 

[Alice?]

Not just a chance, my friend. California WILL vote on legalizing legalizing marijuana in November. It's a done deal.

A-ha, that's good to know. I hadn't heard anything definite about it until now.

 

[Adymus]

My experience is that a vast majority cannot handle any kind of addictive substances. So legalizing all drugs would be a fatal move.

By that logic we should already be dead, most addictive substances/activities are already legal, and the world is still spinning.

 

[Jah]

Most here probably agree that when demonstrated as a superior pain-reliever, marijuana should be allowed. Though I know it feels good, I personally am opposed to over-consumption of any drugs, regardless of how harmful it "is". Even if you can prove that marijuana has no real danger, beyond tobacco, it still should not be encouraged as a means for recreation.

Nor should Alcohol, Tobacco, or any other "legal" drug you may use.


Now, yes, legalization of Marijuana as a medicine, but focus on informing the user. Like they should with Alcohol.

I'm quite pleased that we in Norway have prohibited commercials for Alcohol and tobacco, since these are quite demonstrably harmful, and I also believe that if Marijuana would be legalized it should fall under the same laws.

Commercialism of any central-stimulating drug, alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, lsd, etc. should not be allowed, nor should medicine at all be commercialized, since this should be left to the individual and his doctor to discuss.


Numbers do show that legalization of hashish or marijuana does not increase the percentage of users in the populous, but removes the demand for an illegal marked, and thus the violence that accompanies it.



So, Yes for legalization, but no for encouragement. Marijuana is an addictive substance, like most pain-medication, and should be subject to the same laws as medicine and alcohol.

Spreading Correct information about the subject is by far more important than propaganda in either way, and the victims of victimless crime are only those that fall victim to the circumstances that illegalization brings, and the violence of the hidden market.

 

[Jah]

I thought California had already voted and won by a majority during the Clinton-years.
Though the federal government came down hard upon that, and in fact dragged people in wheel-chairs into court for using marijuana which their doctors had prescribed.

Edit: found it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_215_(1996)

 

[Ska]

I thought California had already voted and won by a majority during the Clinton-years.
Though the federal government came down hard upon that, and in fact dragged people in wheel-chairs into court for using marijuana which their doctors had prescribed.

Edit: found it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_215_(1996)

We're talking about legalizing marijuana in California completely, not just medicinally.

 

[Jah]

Ah, ok.
But then again, it would have to conflict with federal law, or get federal recognition and approval.
Probably meeting the same problems, if not more, than the previous one that was for medical purposes.

 

[snafupants]

It be legal in Michigan - sorry I just saw a black dude - where you can receive it for chronic pain; assuming, I think, you hold residency there. Off to Michigan