Colorado Drug Rehab....Marijuana
Marijuana...Plant or Plague?
The lastest problem facting Colorado is the legal dispensing of medical marijuana. The Washington Times recently ran an article entitled "Drug skeptics fear Colorado going to pot" This article states that Colorado is looking at legislation that will better support the oversight of medical marijuana. You can read the entire article at:
No one has studied whether the access to medical marijuana has caused a rise in first-time users and a younger population of users, but everyone working with the youth in Colorado feels that access is easier and that the cost of the drug on the streets is lower than it was before there was access to medical marijuana and the drug is more potent than it was when it was being smuggled in from Mexico.
Colorado Drug Rehab receives many calls from adolescents and their parents seeking information and drug rehab or residential drug treatment for marijuana abuse. There are more myths about marijuana than any of the other "recreational" drugs on the market. These myths are promoted by celebraties, like Bill Marr, that see it as their mission to tout the benefits of marijuana use. In truth, marijuana is a drug that has many of the same disabilitating properties as any other drug. Admittedly, a person can function more normally while under the influence of marijuana than some of the more addicting drugs, but the accumlation of the drug in the body and the negative consequences of chronic marijuana use are damaging physically and certainly they are demoralizing to the user. If you would like more information on marijuana use and/or drug rehab or residential drug treatment, call 1-877-888-4802 and Colorado Drug Rehab will be glad to assist.
Many comparisons are made between the American Drug Laws and the more liberal drug laws of the Netherlands. This graph and data should be of interest to anyone looking at whether are strict and punitive laws on marijuana are helping the drug problem.
SOCIAL INDICATOR |
COMPARISON YEAR |
USA |
Netherlands |
| Lifetime prevalence of marijuana use (ages 12+) | 2001 |
36.9% |
17.0% |
| Past month prevalence of marijuana use (ages 12+) | 2001 |
5.4% |
3.0% |
| Lifetime prevalence of heroin use (ages 12+) | 2001 |
1.4% |
0.4% |
| Incarceration Rate per 100,000 population | 2002 |
701 |
100 |
| Per capita spending on criminal justice system (in Euros) | 1998 |
379 |
223 |
| Homicide rate per 100,000 population | Avg. 1999-2001 |
5.56 |
1.51 |
All of the data must be considered in context to two very different cultures and other laws that differ as well. Since it is illegal to possess a handgun in the Netherlands, one would expect the homicide rate to be lower without any consideration to the existing drug laws, but this comparison is worth contemplation. Public policy changes are important factors when addressing substance abuse at the societial level.
During this time of heated debate on medical marijuana, one should keep in mind how these news laws will affect other parts of our Colorado communities.
Marijuana Plant
Marijuana is a green or gray mixture of dried, shredded flowers and leaves of the hemp plant Cannabis sativa. There are over 200 slang terms for marijuana including "pot," "herb," "weed," "boom," "Mary Jane," "gangster," and "chronic." It is usually smoked as a cigarette (called a joint or a nail) or in a pipe or bong. In recent years, marijuana has appeared in blunts, which are cigars that have been emptied of tobacco and refilled with marijuana, often in combination with another drug, such as crack. Some users also mix marijuana into foods or use it to brew tea.
Scientists have found that whether an individual has positive or negative sensations after smoking marijuana can be influenced by heredity. A recent study demonstrated that identical male twins were more likely than non-identical male twins to report similar responses to marijuana use, indicating a genetic basis for their sensations. Identical twins share all of their genes, and fraternal twins share about half.
The main active chemical in marijuana is THC. In 1988, it was discovered that the membranes of certain nerve cells contain protein receptors that bind THC. Once securely in place, THC kicks off a series of cellular reactions that ultimately lead to the high that users experience when they smoke marijuana. The short term effects of marijuana use include problems with memory and learning; distorted perception; difficulty in thinking and problem-solving; loss of coordination; and increased heart rate, anxiety, and panic attacks.
Environmental factors such as the availability of marijuana, expectations about how the drug would affect them, the influence of friends and social contacts, and other factors that differentiate identical twins' experiences also were found to have an important effect; however, it also was discovered that the twins' shared or family environment before age 18 had no detectable influence on their response to marijuana.
To many people's surprise, marijuana’s history shows it as being cultivated and used my America’s early colonist. Marijuana was introduced in 1629 to the Puritan colonies of New England. By 1765 George Washington was cultivating marijuana at Mount Vernon, allegedly to help with the agony of an aching tooth. After that reference, marijuana was overshadowed by opiates and other more powerful drugs that were commonly dispensed in patent medicines, but is found as cannabis and hashish during the nineteenth century.
Just like all of the other drugs introduced into American culture, marijuana was seen as having potential profits for the pharmaceutical industry and was promoted by the patent medicine industry as a cure for depression, convulsions, hysteria, insanity, mental retardation and impotence. During the 1800’s, well-known pharmaceutical companies like Parke-Davis and Squibb produced tincture of cannabis for the family pharmacist to dispense. As a medicine, it was never very popular, mostly because of the problems in trying to find exact doses and potency, but as a recreational drug, marijuana had its devotees. By 1885, every major American city had its clandestine hashish clubs catering to the well-to-do clientele. .
By the beginning of the twentieth century, marijuana was being connected to racial groups and drug abuser. Drug abuse and addiction wasn’t actually being seen in these early days, but special interest wanted to stigmatize marijuana to keep it from interfering with more profitable and more addictive drugs like opiates.
The establishment feared marijuana because of it foreign origins and promoted it to be classified as a narcotic and placed in a line of dangerous drugs with opium and coca products. Propaganda about it being a serious drug of abuse and addiction and tales of it driving users to extreme criminal behaviors and caused the wreckage of perfect middle class families. During this period before the Second World War, marijuana literature made the terms drug abuse and addiction part of marijuana folklore.
Editorial News Item:
As most of the readers of this site know, Colorado is being looked at as a test case for the management of medical marijuana, or a step towards legalized marijuana sales and use. The Denver Post summed up the feelings of Colorado Drug Rehab in their article: TIME TO GET REAL, PRO-POT ACTIVISTS on May 08, 2010. In this article, the author, Vincent Carroll, objected to the one-sided argument presented by the pro-marijunan supporter and POT Nation in particular. From this article Mr. Carroll writes:
"Pot Nation can't even bring itself to admit that marijuana has any worrisome side effects related to addiction, health, safety or state of mind. The product is entirely benign, many claim, even beneficial. "Let's teach our kids that marijuana has huge benefits," declared professor Bob Melamede of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs in one of many recent over-the-top expressions of this conviction.
Not that it's easy to quantify marijuana's dangers, given the thicket of apparently conflicting studies. If you read only the footnoted literature from NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, you would come away mostly reassured. At the opposite pole are documents from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, which connect marijuana abuse to "respiratory illnesses, problems with learning and memory, increased heart rate, and impaired coordination," not to mention "increased rates of anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and schizophrenia" and "addiction." ....Pot activists seem to believe they can rest their case if marijuana is less dangerous in some ways than alcohol. It so happens, however, that most of us who appreciate the legal status of booze have never denied that it ruins many lives. We simply don't believe in outlawing every activity that carries a social cost or personal risk. That's not what a free society should do.
Maybe it's time marijuana advocates adopted a similar degree of honesty regarding their own drug of choice."
Colorado Drug Rehab's experience with marijuana would support the White House's opinions and the evidence would support that description of marijuana us and its effects.
If a person is in severe pain and marijuana is the best of all drugs to help him confront his condition and better himself, than we are all in favor of its use, but if this marijuana bill and the marketing that will follow begins to make homo sapiens a little more susseptible to the idea that "man" needs a drug, for whatever reasons, like stress from work or to chill out, then Colorado Drug Rehab will stand by the belief that man has all he needs to handle life and adding any drug or other contaminant will only lead to man having less of his abilities.
PLEASE USE OUR FORM AND LET US HEAR YOUR IDEAS REGARDING MARIJUANA AND HOW IT WILL EFFECT COLORADO.
Health Hazards
Effects on the Lungs
Someone who smokes marijuana regularly may have many of the same respiratory problems as tobacco smokers. These individuals may have daily cough and phlegm, symptoms of chronic bronchitis, and more frequent chest colds. Continuing to smoke marijuana can lead to abnormal functioning of lung tissue injured or destroyed by marijuana smoke.
Regardless of the THC content, the amount of tar inhaled by marijuana smokers and the level of carbon monoxide absorbed are three to five times greater than among tobacco smokers. This may be due to the marijuana users' inhaling more deeply and holding the smoke in the lungs and because marijuana smoke is unfiltered.
Effects of Marijuana on the Brain
Researchers have found that THC changes the way in which sensory information gets into and is processed by the hippocampus. The hippocampus is a component of the brain's limbic system that is crucial for learning, memory, and the integration of sensory experiences with emotions and motivations. Investigations have shown that neurons in the information processing system of the hippocampus and the activity of the nerve fibers in this region are suppressed by THC. In addition, researchers have discovered that learned behaviors, which depend on the hippocampus, also deteriorate via this mechanism.
Recent research findings also indicate that long-term use of marijuana produces changes in the brain similar to those seen after long-term use of other major drugs of abuse.
Effects on Heart Rate and Blood Pressure
Recent findings indicate that smoking marijuana while shooting up cocaine has the potential to cause severe increases in heart rate and blood pressure. In one study, experienced marijuana and cocaine users were given marijuana alone, cocaine alone, and then a combination of both. Each drug alone produced cardiovascular effects; when they were combined, the effects were greater and lasted longer. The heart rate of the subjects in the study increased 29 beats per minute with marijuana alone and 32 beats per minute with cocaine alone. When the drugs were given together, the heart rate increased by 49 beats per minute, and the increased rate persisted for a longer time. The drugs were given with the subjects sitting quietly. In normal circumstances, an individual may smoke marijuana and inject cocaine and then do something physically stressful that may significantly increase the risk of overloading the cardiovascular system.
What are the effects on someone who has smoked marijuana for years?
This is a questions that comes up routinely on the help line. We find that many long-term marijuana users begin to experience untoward emotional and physical complications. Usually it starts with complaints about memory loss, both short and long term as well as a feeling of lethargy that is becoming debilitating .
There is evidence that long-term marijuana use is not unlike long-term use of any drug in that it accumulates in the fat tissue of the body and when you reach a "body burden" of toxins that causes nerve impulse problems, there will be a feeling of "unrealness" followed by anxiety and sleeplessness. It is recommended that someone that is having these or other discomforts consult with our counselors at 877-888-4802 and we will evaluate your individual situation and recommend a program or professional that can help you back to a normal.
Efforts to Legalize Marijuana are Raising Tensions
The federal Drug Enforcement Administration is claiming that proposals to legalize marijuana in Colorado are causing an increase in organized crime, but the agency says it doesn't have any hard data to back up such statements.
Now proponents who worked to push pot legalization measures in Denver and throughout the state are crying foul over what they say are baseless claims.
Wed Aug 01, 2007 at 11:18 AM MDT
A fiery e-mail sent by a federal agent from his government address does not violate employee policy, according to a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) official.
In July, Colorado Confidential reported on an angry letter originating from a Department of Justice e-mail address. The message, riddled with spelling errors, was sent to Independence Institute analyst Jessica Peck Corry in response to a Denver Post editorial she wrote supporting medical marijuana.
Since then it has been discovered that the note came from a DEA agent, and the agency's Denver field director says that matter comes down to freedom of speech.
Just the idea of making marijuana legal sets off emotions on both sides of the issue. Most people can agree that the government should have the power to limit citizens from partaking in activities that are not detrimental to to others and society at large. "Not harmful" is where the argument begins. Activities in life should have more latitude than either being criminal or not, there should be more freedom in the gray areas of decision making if we really want to have a thinking and democratic and open society. The lives and productivity lost from incarceration for non-threatening marijuana possession have infringed on an open society and things need to be re-evaluated. Perhaps decriminalization is a better approach. It is very difficult to say that marijuana is not a harmful substance or that since it is less harmful then alcohol, it too should be legalized. There are many who would like to see more sanctions on alcohol. But these new items demonstrate how volatile this subject is in our society and it appears as though it will continue to be a wedge issue in the future as well.
If this were the only outcome, we really wouldn't worry about Pot.