“What Americans Need to Know”…
July 23rd, 2006 -
…”about Marijuana”. “Important Facts About Our Nation’s Most Misunderstood Illegal Drug.”
That’s on the cover page, along with a photograph of a “roach” with a alligator clip, of a very revealing presentation that I downloaded from the ONDCP’s Website.
Let us now examine these “Misunderstandings”. I have begun the process of copying their 20-page truckload of crapoleum to my blog. Unfortunately I can’t do much with the graphs; if you want to see them, please hold your nose and go to the ONDCP’s weBSite yourself.
I have taken the liberty (gasp) of rendering into boldface some of the equivocal language they use, such words as “may, might, could” I have treated hyperbolic words such as “startling” in the same way. Please note how frequently such language is used. I will insert my comments and questions in italics.
I.There is a serious drug problem in this country,and marijuana is a much bigger part of the problem than most people realize. • Marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug in America. Of the nearly 20 million current illicit drug users, 14.6 million (about 75 percent) are using marijuana.
14.6 million? In the first place, how does the ONDCP expect us to believe their figure is anything more than just another “statistic”, certainly low-ball? Question 2: Where is all the violent crime that we are led to believe will attend that much “sinning”? Why aren’t 14.6 million people robbing 7-11’s and banks, and only taking time out to push drugs in schoolyards?
1 • Of the 7.1 million Americans suffering from illegal drug dependence or abuse, 60 percent abuse or are dependent on marijuana.
“Abuse or are dependent”? Who gets to decide if use is abuse, or desire is dependence? Why, the “Scientists”, of course!
2 • Of all youth age 12-17 in drug treatment in 2000, nearly 62 percent had a primary marijuana diagnosis.
OOOOOHHH! A Primary Marijuana Diagnosis! Sounds sexy! Now, if the “Scientists” are so worried about 12 year old kids, what has that to do with forty year old taxpayers who want nothing to do with kids, in fact we just want to be left alone?!
(Sunday, July 23, 8:50 Central; I have work to do, I will return to this later.)
Approximately half were referred to treatment through the criminal justice system and half through other sources, including self-referral. 5 • The average age of initiation for marijuana use generally has been getting younger. 6 • Along with the bad news, however, come signs of improvement (see graph, below): ➤Among 10th graders, past-year and past-month use of marijuana or hashish decreased from 2001 to 2002, as did daily use in the past month. 7 ➤There has been slow but steady progress toward reduced marijuana use rates among 8th graders. Their past-year marijuana-use rate of 14.6 percent in 2002 is the lowest since 1994, and well below their recent peak of 18.3 percent in 1996. 8 ➤At 30.3 percent for past-year marijuana use, 10th graders are at their lowest level since 1995 and somewhat below their recent peak of 34.8 percent in 1997. The past-year use rate for 12th graders is down, albeit only modestly, from 38.5 percent in their recent peak year (1997) to 36.2 percent in 2002. 9 More young people are now in treatment for marijuana dependency than for alcohol or for all other illegal drugs combined.
MYTH 1 Marijuana is harmless.
Marijuana is far from harmless; in fact, recent scientific findings about the drug are startling. Most of the drug treatment for young people in the United States is for marijuana alone. Marijuana emergency-room mentions have skyrocketed over the past decade, and the drug is associated with an increased risk of developing schizophrenia, even when personality traits and pre-existing conditions are taken into account.
FACTS: Health Consequences • Marijuana smoke contains 50 percent to 70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than does tobacco smoke. 10 Using marijuana may promote cancer of the respiratory tract and disrupt the immune system. 11 • Marijuana smokers have a heightened risk of lung infection. 12 • Long-term use of marijuana may increase the risk of chronic cough, bronchitis, and emphysema, as well as cancer of the head, neck, and lungs. 13 • Mentions of marijuana use in emergency room visits have risen 176 percent since 1994, surpassing those of heroin. 14 • In 2001, marijuana was a contributing factor in more than 110,000 emergency department visits in the United States. 15 • Marijuana can cause the heart rate, normally 70 to 80 beats per minute, to increase by 20 to 50 beats per minute or, in some cases, even to double. 17 • In a 2003 study, researchers in England found that smoking marijuana for even less than six years causes a marked deterioriation in lung function. The study suggests that marijuana use may rob the body of antioxidants that protect cells against damage that can lead to heart disease and cancer. 18 • Marijuana affects alertness, concentration, perception, coordination, and reaction time— skills that are necessary for safe driving. A roadside study of reckless drivers in Tennessee found that 33 percent of all subjects who were not under the influence of alcohol and who were tested for drugs at the scene of their arrest tested positive for marijuana. 20 In a 2003 Canadian study, one in five students admitted to driving within an hour of using marijuana. 21 Smoking marijuana leads to changes in the brain similar to those caused by the use of cocaine and heroin. 16
• Marijuana users have more suicidal thoughts and are four times more likely to report symptoms of depression than people who never used the drug. 22 • The British Medical Journal recently reported: “Cannabis use is associated with an increased risk of developing schizophrenia, consistent with a causal relation. This association is not explained by use of other psychoactive drugs or personality traits relating to social integration.†23
Social Consequences • Heavy marijuana use impairs the ability of young people to concentrate and retain information during their peak learning years. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active chemical in marijuana, changes the way sensory information gets into and is processed by the part of the brain that is crucial for learning and memory. 24 • Animal studies indicate that marijuana use may interfere with brain function and create problems with the perception of time, possibly making the user less adept at tasks that require sustained attention. 25 • Marijuana use has been associated with poor performance in school. One report showed that youths with an average grade of D or below were more than four times as likely to have used marijuana in the past year as youths with an average grade of A. 26 • Marijuana users in their later teen years are more likely to have an increased risk of delinquency and more friends who exhibit deviant behavior. They also tend to have more sexual partners and are more likely to engage in unsafe sex. 27 Economic Consequences • Use of marijuana and other illicit drugs comes at significant expense to society in terms of lost employee productivity, public health care costs, and accidents. 28 • Americans spent $10.6 billion on marijuana purchases in 1999. 29 The British Lung Foundation reports that smoking three or four marijuana joints is as bad for your lungs as smoking 20 tobacco cigarettes. 19
Y’all out there in nlog-land can go to the ONDCP’s weBSite and get the PDF file yourselves. Those of you who want to believe you need them to protect you from “the people your parents warned you about” will probably be dissuaded by nothing less than the Second Coming, plus the ONDCP’s crap is so tedious, that I’m not gonna waste any more time shooting holes in it. Life’s too short to squander it trying to cinvince you that you wouldn’t be blind anymore, if only you’r take your hands off your eyes!