NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #26/NN_1992_26.iso/spool/misc/activism/progress/8295

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From: Robert G Halvorson <[e-mail]>
Subject: MARIJUANA MYTHS - Pt.2
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                        MARIJUANA MYTHS - Pt.2
                         by Paul Hager

  8. Marijuana impairs short-term memory

   This is true but misleading. When one is intoxicated on alcohol, one's
motor control is affected. When one is intoxicated on marijuana, one's
concentration is affected. Any impairment of short-term memory disappears
when one is no longer intoxicated. Often, the short-term memory effect is
paired with a reference to Dr. Heath's poor rhesus monkeys to imply that the
condition is permanent.

  9. Marijuana lingers in the body like DDT

   This is also true but misleading. Cannabinoids are fat soluble as are
innumerable nutrients and, yes, some poisons like DDT. For example, the
essential nutrient, Vitamin A, is fat soluble but one never hears people who
favor marijuana prohibition making this comparison.

  10. There are over a thousand chemicals in marijuana smoke

   Again, true but misleading. The 31 August 1990 issue of the magazine
Science notes that of the over 800 volatile chemicals present in roasted
COFFEE, only 21 have actually been tested on animals and 16 of these cause
cancer in rodents. Yet, coffee remains legal and is generally considered
fairly safe.

  11. No one has ever died of a marijuana overdose

   This is true. It was put in to see if you are paying attention. Animal
tests have revealed that extremely high doses of cannabinoids are needed to
have lethal effect. This has led scientists to conclude that the ratio of the
amount of cannabinoids necessary to get a person intoxicated (i.e., stoned)
relative to the amount necessary to kill them is 1 to 40,000. In other words,
to overdose, you would have to consume 40,000 times as much marijuana as you
needed to get stoned. In contrast, the ratio for alcohol varies between 1 to
4 and 1 to 10. It is easy to see how upwards of 5000 people die from alcohol
overdoses every year and no one EVER dies of marijuana overdoses.

  Check us out

   We believe that the truth is our strongest weapon. To date, the
prohibitionists have refused to meet us in public debate: they fear the truth
and know that they stand to lose in any direct confrontation. They cower
behind a wall of myths, lies, and half truths. In the battles that lie ahead
we will try to flush the prohibitionists into the open. In order to be
successful in this goal, we will need to batter down the myths and lies by
giving our message the widest possible distribution.

   Check us out. Listen to our Truth Squad, check our sources, and ask us the
tough questions. Examine our claims with a skeptical, but open, mind. We feel
that after looking at the facts you will find it very hard to side with the
prohibitionists ever again.

   We're looking for allies, declared or undeclared. Getting the message out
costs money. Our opponents dispose of literally hundreds-of-millions of
dollars. If you'd like to quietly donate to the cause, send your
contributions to the Hoosier Cannabis Relegalization Coalition at P.O. Box
5325, Bloomington, IN. If you'd like to help in a more direct way contact me,
Paul Hager, at [phone]. Our meetings are open to the public and we
welcome new members. Contact us for more information.

  Sources

  1) Marijuana and Health, Institute of Medicine, National Academy of
Sciences, 1982. Note: the Committee on Substance Abuse and Habitual Behavior
of the "Marijuana and Health" study had its part of the final report
suppressed when it reviewed the evidence and recommended that possession of
small amounts of marijuana should no longer be a crime (TIME magazine, July
19, 1982). The two JAMA studies are: Co, B.T., Goodwin, D.W., Gado, M.,
Mikhael, M., and Hill, S.Y.: "Absence of cerebral atrophy in chronic cannabis
users", JAMA, 237:1229-1230, 1977; and, Kuehnle, J., Mendelson, J.H., Davis,
K.R., and New, P.F.J.: "Computed tomographic examination of heavy marijuana
smokers", JAMA, 237:1231- 1232, 1977.

  2) See Marijuana and Health, ibid., for information on this research. See
also, Marijuana Reconsidered (1978) by Dr. Lester Grinspoon.

  3) See "A Comparison of Marijuana Users and Non-users" by Norman Zinberg
and Andrew Weil (1971). This showed a negative correlation between use of
marijuana and use of alcohol. A recent article about the Dutch experience is
written up in "The Economics of Legalizing Drugs", by Richard J. Dennis, The
Atlantic Monthly, Vol 266, No. 5, Nov 1990, p. 130.

  4) See a review of studies and their methodology in "Marijuana and
Immunity", Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, Vol 20(1), Jan-Mar 1988. Studies
showing stimulation of the immune system: Kaklamani, et al., "Hashish smoking
and T- lymphocytes", 1978; Kalofoutis et al., "The significance of lymphocyte
lipid changes after smoking hashish", 1978. The 1988 study: Wallace, J.M.,
Tashkin, D.P., Oishi, J.S., Barbers, R.G., "Peripheral Blood Lymphocyte
Subpopulations and Mitogen Responsiveness in Tobacco and Marijuana Smokers",
1988, Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, ibid.

  5) For current information on cannabis drinks see Working Men and Ganja:
Marijuana Use in Rural Jamaica by M. C. Dreher, Institute for the Study of
Human Issues, 1982, ISBN 0-89727- 025-8. For information on cannabis and
actual cancer risk, see Marijuana and Health, ibid.

  6) For a survey of studies relating to cannabis and highway accidents see
"Marijuana, Driving and Accident Safety", by Dale Gieringer, Journal of
Psychoactive Drugs, ibid.

  7) For information about the Partnership ad, see Jack Herer's book, The
Emperor Wears No Clothes, 1990, p. 74. For information on memory and the
alpha brainwave enhancement effect, see "Marijuana, Memory, and Perception",
by R. L. Dornbush, M.D., M. Fink, M.D., and A. M. Freedman, M.D., presented
at the 124th annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, May 3-7,
1971.

  8) See Marijuana and Health, ibid.

  9) The fat solubility of cannabinoids and certain vitamins is well known.
See Marijuana and Health, ibid. For some information on vitamin A, see "The A
Team" in Scientific American, Vol 264, No. 2, February 1991, p. 16.

  10) See "Too Many Rodent Carcinogens: Mitogenesis Increases Mutagenesis",
Bruce N. Ames and Lois Swirsky Gold, Science, Vol 249, 31 August 1990, p. 971.

  11) Cannabis and alcohol toxicity is compared in Marijuana Reconsidered,
ibid., p. 227. Yearly alcohol overdoses was taken from "Drug Prohibition in
the United States: Costs, Consequences, and Alternatives" by Ethan A.
Nadelmann, Science, Vol 245, 1 September 1989, p. 943.

  -- paul hager [e-mail]

  "The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is reason." --
Thomas Paine, _The Age of Reason_




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