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CANNABIS
- THE FACTS (ARTICLE)
Taken for euphoria, usually smoked with or without tobacco, or eaten in “hash” cakes. (But enhances the mood you’re in so you may well feel worse). An intoxicant, like alcohol, so people should not be driving. If you have a joint today you should not be driving tomorrow. (Airline pilots on flight simulators could not ‘land’ their planes properly even 24 hours and more after a joint and had no idea anything was wrong.) One 20mg joint has the same effect as being just over the legal alcohol-driving limit. The combination of cannabis and alcohol is 16 times more dangerous when driving than taking either drug alone. Panic attacks and paranoia can occur immediately after a joint. The long-term effects. Just one joint per week or even once a month will ensure a permanent presence of THC. Since the other neurotransmitters are affected, new nerve connections cannot be made properly. Concentration, learning and memory are all badly affected. School grades fall, some students miss out on university places. A cannabis personality develops. Users become inflexible, can’t plan their days properly, can’t take criticism and struggle to express themselves. They feel lonely, miserable and misunderstood. Apathy, amotivation and dropping out are all common. Few children, using cannabis even occasionally, will achieve their full potential. Dependence. Psychological addiction, the craving for cannabis is very strong. Mental Health. Cannabis psychosis has been reported in scientific papers for decades. Cannabis causes far more mental illness than drugs like heroin. The increased risk factors for psychosis, anxiety,
and depression range from 3 to 5. Schizophrenia is triggered or worsened
by its use,
it may even be caused. Cannabis increases the amount of the neurotransmitter
dopamine in the brain. Schizophrenics have an excess of dopamine in
the brain, sufferers of Parkinson’s disease, too little. Violence and Suicide A Swedish study found more suicides among
pot users than those who used alcohol, amphetamines or heroin. The
manner
of death was more violent. Other Effects on the body Cannabis contains more cancer-causing substances than tobacco, its smoke deposits three to four times as much tar in the lungs and airways. Cases of lung cancer, bronchitis and emphysema have been reported. Rare head and neck cancers are now being found in young pot smokers. The average age for these conditions in tobacco smokers is 64. The immune system is damaged. Fewer white blood cells are produced, many are abnormal and can't fight off infections. People are more vulnerable to disease, their illness is more severe and they stay sick longer. Sperm production is decreased. Infertility and even impotence have been reported. Babies born to cannabis using mothers are smaller, hyperactive, have behaviour and learning problems and are 10 times more likely to develop leukaemia. THC interferes with the production of new cells being made in an adult body - white blood cells, sperm and foetal cells. (It causes faulty copying of DNA, and hastens cell death.) Blood pressure and heart rates rise to the levels of real stress. Heart attacks have been reported. Two teenagers had strokes and died after bingeing on cannabis, another was left paralysed. The Medical Argument Medicines by law, have to be pure substances, single chemicals, so
that their actions are predictable and controllable. Heroin and cocaine
fall into that category. Cannabis contains around 400 chemicals. It all started in 1979 when an American pot smoking lawyer said, "We will use the medical marijuana argument as a red herring on the road to full legalisation". The Pro-legalisers. Many pro-legalisers are users, or their children are. Cannabis as a gateway drug? Tobacco, alcohol and cannabis can all act as gateway drugs. A recent New Zealand study showed that weekly cannabis users were 60 times more likely to progress to “harder” drugs. The more they use, the greater the risk. Almost 100% of heroin users started on pot. New research suggests that cannabis can “prime” the brain for the use of other drugs. Relaxing the law Holland turned a blind eye to cannabis in 1987 and is now the crime
capital of Europe. The country is awash with dealers, and it is a major
producer and exporter of drugs especially ecstasy. Since down-classification in 2001 in the UK, regular cannabis use is still rising among 11 to 12 year old boys, older teens seem to have progressed to cocaine. Strength In the sixties and seventies, the average THC content of herbal cannabis
was just 0.5 - 1%. Drug Testing More and more employers are testing for drugs in the workplace – cannabis will show up for weeks, and a conviction would prevent someone from getting a visa for the USA. Quotations from the Experts: Mental illness: “Five years ago, 95% of psychiatrists would
have said that cannabis doesn’t cause psychosis. Now I would
estimate that 95% say it does” “The mistake was that in its 2002 report, The Advisory Council
on the Misuse of Drugs denied that cannabis was a contributory cause
of schizophrenia, continued to deny this for the next two years and
thus mislead ministers into repeatedly stating that there was no causal
link between cannabis and psychosis”. Personality: “If the development of identity does not progress, the teenager remains at a childish level of development characterised by both a lack of independence and a deficient integration in the adult world”. (Swedish researcher, Jan Ranstrom 2003) Academic performance: “Use more often than twice
per week for even a short period of time, or use for 5 years or more
at the level
of even once per month, may each lead to a compromised ability to function
to their full mental capacity, and could possibly result in lasting
impairments” Medical argument: Dr Keith Green an American ophthalmologist, says 6 joints a day would be needed to maintain reduced eye pressure caused by glaucoma, rendering the patient incapable of any useful functioning. The warning on Nabilone reads: “THC encourages both physical and psychological dependence and is highly abusable. It causes mood changes, loss of memory, psychoses, impairment of coordination and perception, and complicates pregnancy”. Dr Robert Dupont, founder of NIDA (National Institute for Drug Abuse) in the USA said, “I have been apologising to the American people for the last 10 years for promoting the decriminalisation of cannabis. I made a mistake. Marijuana combines the worst effects of alcohol and tobacco and has other ill effects that neither of these two have”. He added, “In all of history, no young people have ever taken marijuana regularly on a mass scale. Therefore our youngsters are in effect making themselves guinea pigs in a tragic experiment. Thus far our research clearly suggests we will see horrendous results” References can be found in “Cannabis – a general view of its harmful effects” by Mary Brett on the “Talking about Cannabis” website. June 2007. More:- Foresight Literature Summaries
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