 Brian Damage:The studies of human populations of marijuana users have shown no evidence of brain damage. For example, two studies from 1977, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) showed no evidence of brain damage in heavy users of marijuana.Reproductive System:Cannabis does not damage reproductive systems. This theory is based on one studie by Dr. Gabriel Nahas of tissure from animals near-leathaly injected with cannabinoids. However generalizations from his petri dishes to human beings have been rejected by the scientific community. Studies of actual human populations have failed to demonstrate that marijuana adversely affects the reproductive system.Gateway Effect:The Dutch partially legalized marijuana in the 1970s. Since then, hard drug use-heroin and cocaine have declined substantially. This "negative gateway" effect has also been observed in the United States. A 1993 Rand Corporation study that compared drug use in states that had decriminalized marijuana versus those that had not, found that where marijuana was more available, the states that had decriminalized, hard drug abuse as measured by emergency room episodes decreased.Immune System:Marijuana has not been proven to suppres immune systems in humans. Two studies done in 1978 and one done in 1988 showed that hashish and marijuana may have actually stimulated the immune system in the people studied.Cannabis Vs. Tobacco:Marijuana is not more dangerous than tobacco. Smoked tobacco, with a 90% addiction rate, is the most addictive of all drugs while marijuana is less addictive than caffeine. Cigarets kill more then 450,000 people a year, there has never been a reported death from smoking marijuana.One 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 10.10 Times Stronger:The researchers who made the claim of increased potency used as their baseline the THC content of marijuana seized by police in the early 1970s. Poor storage of this marijuana in un-air conditioned evidence rooms caused it to deteriorate and decline in potency before any chemical assay was performed. Independent assays of unseized "street" marijuana from the early 1970s showed a potency equivalent to that of modern "street" marijuana. Actually, the most potent form of this drug that was generally available was sold legally in the 1920s and 1930s by the pharmaceutical company Smith-Klein under the name, "American Cannabis".Memory Loss:Any impairment of short-term memory disappears when one is no longer under the influence of marijuana. 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.Stays In Your System:Cannabis does linger in the body after you use it, so does Vitamin A. Cannabinoids are fat soluble as are innumerable nutrients and, yes, some poisons like DDT. |
