U.N. DRUG REPORT
No morally responsible adult should advocate drug legalization.
A newly released U.N. drug report with scientific research findings concluded that marijuana use causes brain damage.
Marijuana is generally the "drug of entry" for teen agers and young people who succomb to abusing "hard drugs" like cocaine and heroine. The movement for so-called "medicinal marijuana" is an addict's excuse for legalizing a dangerous illicit drug that damages the human brain, destroys families, engenders mental illness, sabotages individual potentialities, creates personal endangerment and incinerates hope for the future.
Liberty is not anarchy, but the enjoyment of secured constitutional freedoms within the boundaries of the rule of law based upon given consent.
There are legally manufactured drugs on the market for pain management which have been tested for human consumption while providing contra-indications and warnings against overdose and misuse.
In short, drug use, abuse or addiction is the most horrendous "brain drain" in a nation. This destructive temptation ought to be removed from young people's environment before irreversible damage is caused. For, this type of self-destruction is preventable and optimally desirable for all parents who envision providing for their families without this impending disaster factoring into their daily lives.
Accountable adults who do lawfully "know better," should lead the way in being morally responsible for building a society in which security for children and young people represents a paramount cause and most supreme interest in preserving the next generation of leaders, professionals and workers for constructive living, healthy growth, moral maturity, and continuum prosperity.
Nothing even remotely resembling facts in this blog, though you are certain entitled to your opinion.
The idea that marijuana use causes brain damage (much less all the other social ills you cite) must come as quite a surprise to millions of people who use it everyday in this country. People who use no other drugs, pharmaceutical or otherwise, yet are productive and active members of society. About the only proven detrimental effect of habitual marijuana use are respiratory, though a vaporizer all but nullifies that damage.
All the government literature on this subject is hyperbolic at best and misleadingly biased at worse.
June 25, 2009 11:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
The other thing I would add is that one of the main takeaways of the report was that the UN seemed to be advocating drug decriminalization, or fines instead of criminal penalties. A consensus is starting to emerge that treatment, not prohibition like you are advocating, is the most effective way to get people off drugs.
As for marijuana causing brain damage, I'm very skeptical. Every study that comes out critical of marijuana either finds nothing at all, or finds a modest detriment among the heaviest of heavy smokers (more than 8 joints per day). It's the same way they were able to demonstrate the cancer-causing effects of saccharin: by testing subjects (rats) who were given a radically high amount of it. Sometimes there are even positive findings with marijuana, such as the lower incidence of lung cancer among marijuana smokers. The bottom line is, there isn't the slightest bit of evidence to suggest occasional use is the harmful. End of story.
That being said, I'm not in favor of legalization. I just think too many people would start doing it, and a lot of people would do it so much that it harms their personal achievement. It would just be too easy to get. But arresting someone for smoking a joint? That's inhumane.
June 25, 2009 12:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Totally agree, but for the last part. I say legalize everything and start treating us like adults. Treatment when and where called for - punishment for crimes committed as a result of addition - but certainly no longer locking people up for illegal possession of a controlled substance.
All the narcotic use combined - including marijuana - can't hold a candle to the death and destruction wrought by cigarettes and tobacco. Not to mention the stats that are starting to trickle out about the harmful effects of a whole host of pharmaceuticals, such as the increase in suicide among long-time anti-depressant users.
As to your point about jail below, it really depends on the state and the prosecutor. Virginia doesn't budge an inch. Zero tolerance. If your case brings federal attention - which even an ounce of weed can do - then your chances of going jail rise dramatically. Especially if they think they can piggyback you up the food chain, which has risks altogether separate from prison time.
All in all, I think we have approached this like every other issue - with opinion and invective and prejudice, but with very little critical thought.
June 25, 2009 1:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey, I decided to respond to your comment with a blog post, since neither of us think this post makes any sense
June 25, 2009 1:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ignorance is no excuse: this post is immoral.
Nonviolent drug offenders overcrowd our prisons at tax-payer expense, children of needlessly incarcerated parents socialized into a narrow habitus of the gangsters' paradise, thousands upon thousands of Mexicans killed while alcohol and tobacco industry sit comfortably and make a taxed income, addiction's inflated prevalance as $$$ spent arresting and incarcerating trumphs that spent on treatment and prevention, the weight on the scale and spit in the face of our lady Liberty as conformists coveting their status quo proselytize their prohibition which treats some drug users differently than others, and you stand on your pedestal of ignorance saying "no morally responsible adult should advocate drug legalization," how dare you?
This post is Reefer Madness propaganda! No excuse.
June 25, 2009 12:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
People who are arrested merely for smoking/possessing marijuana a rarely ever thrown in jail, so I don't buy into the 'overcrowded prisons' line as it pertains to marijuana. That being said, it does take a police officer off the streets for several hours as he processes a marijuana arrest. Also, being arrested for pot can ruin careers and cause a really huge amount of suffering for such a minor crime.
June 25, 2009 12:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's not accurate; not everywhere. In fact, a woman just died in prison this weekend in Houston, Texas. Her offense: marijuana possession.
http://blog.norml.org/2009/06/25/marijuana-pow-dies-in-custody-in-houston/
I wouldn't discriminate which drugs should be legalized only how they should be legalized. A position less than that would mean legislating lifestyles - which has led to the oppression of minorities and the poor. All classes and races use drugs.
I hope President Obama will shift the paradigm toward a public health approach as he stated in a Rolling Stones interview during his campaign. So far, regardless this Reefer Madness piece of trash post that I would print out to use for toilet paper but I care about the environment and its not worth my time, things are looking moderately good, but someone needs to teach Obama and Kerlikowske the word "legalization" - and that its not the end-all, only the first step.
June 25, 2009 9:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm looking at the report now. On Page 97 in the inset labeled 'Why does cannibis potency matter' in the second paragraph the report states 'One driving force behind the interest in cannibis potency is the possible link to mental health problems. It is thought that high potency cannibis may have the potential to be more harmful.'
In relation to marijuana, it says nothing about brain damage.
The report lists the current usage rates, statistics on production, consumption and so on for various drugs, regions and areas.
From: DeLisi, LE, Curr Opin Psychiatry. 2008 Mar;21(2):140-50.
SUMMARY: From the evidence that exists, it appears that the above view (can cannabis cause brain anomalies that lead to increased risk for schizophrenia?) is unlikely and that cannabis may even have benign effects on brain structure, not producing deleterious damage. Its neurochemical interactions with the dopaminergic pathway, however, may, particularly in genetically vulnerable individuals, have adverse consequences.
Thus, I see your post as inappropriately alarmist. It is disingenuous in that it blatantly misrepresents the report, and it contradicts current science.
Morality is another discussion, but as to the report as it presents the issue and the science on marijuana you are wrong.
June 25, 2009 1:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Thus, I see your post as inappropriately alarmist. It is disingenuous in that it blatantly misrepresents the report, and it contradicts current science.
Morality is another discussion, but as to the report as it presents the issue and the science on marijuana you are wrong."
--Well said, Adelfarb
June 25, 2009 4:37 PM | Reply | Permalink