Just The Facts About Marijuana
The National Institute on Drug Abuse released an eyebrow-raising statement to PolitiFact on Monday, denying that marijuana is less toxic than alcohol.
“Claiming that marijuana is less toxic than alcohol cannot be substantiated since each possess their own unique set of risks and consequences for a given individual,” wrote the institute. NIDA, part of the National Institutes of Health, funds government-backed scientific research and has a stated mission “to lead the nation in bringing the power of science to bear on drug abuse and addiction.”
The statement was in response to a declaration by the pro-pot policy group Marijuana Policy Project that marijuana is less harmful than alcohol –- a claim that was the centerpiece of a controversial pro-marijuana commercial aired during a NASCAR race last month.
PolitiFact took the claim to task, comparing marijuana-related deaths to alcohol-related deaths and toxicity levels of the two substances.
As noted by PolitiFact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics reported 41,682 alcohol-related deaths in 2010. Th. . . . . READ MORE
Justin Trudeau’s advocacy of legal marijuana is mere political pandering
In drug-dabbling days of yore, there was one narcotic that I knew from the get-go could be my undoing: heroin.
With the possible exception of sex, there’s no euphoric feeling on Earth so sweet as a smack rush. And while I don’t accept that dipping into any drug for an experimental adventure – not crack, not methamphetamines, not LSD – will automatically predispose an individual toward addiction and a life of ruin, which is what the drug interdiction racket would have you believe, there’s no denying the siren song of heroin nirvana as a seductive compulsion.
Three times and out, I decided. Also, needles are creepy, even when injecting subcutaneously rather than into a vein.
So, no, I don’t necessarily view illicit drugs as an absolute and unequivocal scourge, though I am well aware of the harm caused to chronic partakers and society at large, especially where demand transects with supply – the criminality of trafficking, the inefficacy of gazillions spent on law enforcement.
But of all the substances available from your corner dealer, or your office connection, the most dimwitting, the dumm. . . . . READ MORE
With the recent article published on May 12, 2013, “Mont. goes its own way on pot,” it seems like the perfect opportunity to provide some clarifying facts about marijuana.
There is no scientific basis for using smoked marijuana as a medicine, no sound scientific studies supporting the medical use of marijuana for treatment in the United States, and no animal or human data supporting the safety or effectiveness of marijuana for general medical use. The Food and Drug Administration ruled that smoked marijuana does not meet the modern standards of medicine in the United States. Marijuana is NOT approved nor endorsed by the FDA, the American Medical Association, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the American Glaucoma Society, the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American Cancer Society or the American Pediatric Society. The National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine has concluded that smoked marijuana should “not be recommended for medical use.”
Marijuana has over 500 components ( THC, CBD, etc. ) that have been proven to increase the risk of cancer, lung damage, and poor pregnancy . . . . . READ MORE
