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Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

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Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#371

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Straight out of the misinformation arsenal of the anti drug crowd; in fact there is no evidence that the strongest modern strains are any stronger than the strongest strains available in the 60's.

That's not true. 40+ years of breeding plus advancements in botany and horticulture have yielded us some incredibly powerful strains. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marijuana#Concentration_of_psyc...

In fact it is true, people have been concentrating thc for millenia, there is nothing out there stronger today than there has been for thousands of years:

http://www.briancbennett.com/history/excerpts/thc-content.ht...

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#372
post #359
post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a person who had a roommate whose schizophrenia was likely induced by heavy marijuana use (along with his tripping on multiple bottles of Robitussin), the fact of the matter is that the harm done to this small percentage of people is vastly outweighed by the damage done to people who can't get access to it for their medical needs. And that's ignoring the huge harm caused by prosecuting recreational users due to an…

Sorry, why are you convinced that the problem is marijuana and not the Robitussin? Robitussin's active ingredient is dextromethorphan, an NMDA receptor antagonist that can destroy your NMDA system through repeated usage, which is a leading hypothesis for the cause of schizophrenia.[0] You could compare what you're saying to "my friend smokes weed and tobacco and got esophageal cancer, but I'm pretty sure it's the wee…

Actually, (as I told his parents) I think his use of DXM in both Robitussin and powdered form was a big contributor to his schizophrenia. I'm pro-leglization of marijuana for both recreational and medicinal use, FYI, but I think the science is still ongoing as to whether it can aggravate latent schizophrenia in people.

I'm certainly not claiming that I KNOW what caused his schizophrenia. The point I was making was that I know how bad schizophrenia can be from experience, but I still think it should be legalized due to the huge harm of prohibition.

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#373

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or donning my tin foil hat, Monsanto is preparing the PR for its GM Cannabis

You don't have to put on a tin foil hat, as soon as marijuana is federally legal, Monsanto, Philip Morris, Camel cigarettes will be all ready to grow their own. It's kind of obvious that these folks have the farm land, distribution networks, and a lack of morals (not that MJ is immoral, but it would require a huge about-face), so they could just as easily do weed as tobacco. Replant fields and create some new packagi…

There is a tremendous, and key, difference in the amount of processing required for tobacco vs MJ. Tobacco has to be heavily cured and processed (not necessarily with chemicals, but certainly with lots of other methods) to be usable. It's not something that any old joe would want to do themselves due to how labor intensive it is. Plus, tobacco is a super finicky plant.

MJ, once dried, can be used with zero processing. If you consider drying to be processing, then yes, its a one step process. Not saying that these folks wouldn't make plenty of money off of the convenience factor, but the barrier to entry for MJ wholesaling is much lower due to the reduced processing.

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#374

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We do let osteopaths prescribe medicine though, and that's almost as dumb. D.O's have an education that AFAIK is equivalent to that of an M.D. Why should they not be allowed to prescribe medication?

Because their training also includes the scientifically bankrupt "osteopathic manipulative medicine", presented as if it were real medicine. If you found out that your doctor had, in addition to her ordinary training, received training in psychic healing, and believed that this was a valid approach to medicine, how comfortable would you feel with that doctor being allowed to prescribe potentially dangerous medication…

Because their training also includes the scientifically bankrupt "osteopathic manipulative medicine

I'm sorry and I don't say this lightly but you should really just shut up.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osteopathic_manipulative_medic...

In an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine in November 1999, researchers concluded that osteopathic manipulative medicine and traditional drug therapy resulted in equivalent resolution of lower back pain in a nearly identical time frame. The difference was that participants receiving osteopathic manipulative medicine required less pharmaceutical intervention. The advantage of osteopathic manipulative medicine was a diminution of adverse drug reactions while the disadvantage was the greater amount of physician time required for each patient.[22]

A 2005 meta-analysis and systematic review of six randomized controlled trials of osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) that involved blinded assessments of lower back pain in ambulatory settings concluded that OMT significantly reduces low back pain, and that the level of pain reduction is greater than expected from placebo effects alone and persists for at least three months.[23]

The National Institutes of Health's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine states[24] that overall, studies have shown that spinal manipulation can provide mild to moderate relief from low-back pain and appears to be as effective as conventional medical treatments.

You are the worst kind of debater. You say something wrong, are called out on it, then you change the entire topic. Only you're wrong about that new topic too, so you cling to it to death. So now you're in the position of arguing against the American Medical Association, the National Institute of Health, the New England Journal of Medicine and frankly thousands of studies.

You are a colossal fool.

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#375
post #191

I'm glad that Gupta has made this public apology. It takes a lot of courage to make that statement especially for someone with great public influence. I'm just curious as to why it took him this long. Medical marijuana has been prescribed in hospitals for some time with great benefit. I mean, just from a clinical standpoint, he should've seen the great upsides and limited downsides to using the drug. Patients, typica…

For what it's worth, there is relatively recent research showing that marijuana can be harmful to brains as they're still developing ([1] is the first one I remember reading), so his recommendation that his kids avoid it until they're older is probably sound. That being said, yes, I'm glad there's a higher profile scientist speaking out in favor of marijuana legalization, or at least more even-handed research of it.…

Long term longitudinal studies like the one referenced are inconclusive when taken in isolation. They really only work in relation to other studies, tracking already known traits. This study most likely indicates a correlation one or more other unknown traits in the individual and can in no way be taken to indicate what it claims in that article.

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#376
post #366

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can't "already have" schizophrenia without having the symptoms of schizophrenia (assuming you aren't on medication that completely controls the symptoms). The reason is that schizophrenia and almost all other mental illnesses are diagnosed on the basis of behavior. The current thinking is that there's a genetic predisposition, and then certain environmental factors like child abuse (linked to mental illness in ge…

> You can't "already have" schizophrenia without having the symptoms of schizophrenia (assuming you aren't on medication that completely controls the symptoms). Yes you can, you can be genetically predisposed before the symptoms appear.

a) I used the words "genetic predisposition" in my reply; b) just because you are genetically predisposed to having breast cancer doesn't mean you have or will have breast cancer.

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#377

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, I meant the opposite, that if being schizophrenia-prone made you cannabis-prone (self-medication, effectively), that more people overall smoking pot might not mean that more schizophrenia-prone people were smoking pot, because that population would already be saturated. I'm not saying that my hypotheses are correct, I'm just pointing out that if we're going to be scientific about whether cannabis induces schizoph…

you're kind of truther'ing on statistics.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lies,_damned_lies,_and_statist...

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#378
post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[Citation needed.] How many instances in a sampling size? How large was the sampling size? How rigorous was the study? Peer reviewed? Publisher? Offhand, I can immediately tell you the overwhelming evidence is that tobacco (cigarettes) is far more harmful than cannabis. I direct your attention to the myth of cannabis being as harmful as x number of cigarettes[1] and the myth that cannabis harms brain cells[2]. While…

knock yourself out: http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/content/135/7/2245 Of course, you could have googled this up yourself in 10 seconds but I guess people believe what they want to believe.

I appreciate that you came back with a legitimate citation, but the rest of your comment is uncalled for. What I googled were the points that defend my position, not the other way around - the burden for that is on the opposing defense, not my own.

What about my comments appears as though I just look for self-validating information and ignore the rest? The parts where I questioned scientific rigor, sampling size, case instances, etc?

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#379
post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's unlikely they'll find a good one. (For the thread): The initial studies on "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome" seem to have conflated overconsumption of sodium with MSG. MSG has the misfortune of being known primarily by an acronym, which makes it sound scarier than it actually is (ie, not remotely scary).

I might be wrong about MSG. IIRC animals produce the D- entantiomer (MSG is chiral), and industrially produced stuff is D- and L-, and apparently L- can be harmful.

The studies that rebutted the MSG connection in Chinese Restaurant Syndrome used industrial products, like Ajinomoto MSG.

So, I was a little unclear: I offered two arguments against the CRS/MSG connection: first, that MSG is a scary-sounding name for a chemical that plays a central role in our metabolism and nervous system; second, that studies have attempted to isolate MSG as a cause of CRS and failed to find a link.

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#380
post #191

I'm glad that Gupta has made this public apology. It takes a lot of courage to make that statement especially for someone with great public influence. I'm just curious as to why it took him this long. Medical marijuana has been prescribed in hospitals for some time with great benefit. I mean, just from a clinical standpoint, he should've seen the great upsides and limited downsides to using the drug. Patients, typica…

Are you sure. I've read several studies that shows marijuana has a habit of revealing or causing schizophrenia in youth, with almost no incidence in adults.

I wouldn't let my kids smoke marijuana the same as any substance that might cause maldevelopment.

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