The Truth About Marijuana         (a work in progress)

At first we are all told that Marijuana is the root of all drug abuse and "leads" to harder drugs.  We are told that smoking marijuana causes cancer and teaches people to be "druggies".

Others will tell us that Marijuana is a "good" medicine.  That it helps people in pain and the ill who can not eat.  We are told that Marijuana is the cure for cancer and that it helps cancer patients.

Through all this we are left to make our own decision.  Is Marijuana good for us or bad for us.  Does it damage society or cure the ill.  NEFN will give the facts.  Our goal is to give it as it is and not sugar coat it.  Studies have shown positive and negative findings for Marijuana.  We try to show you both and let you decide how Marijuana will be involved in your life.

PROS:

"People have used marijuana as a medical treatment for thousands of years. "  This is a true statement just the same as, "Cocaine and Heroin have been used as a medical treatment for many of years."  America has established the FDA to help us decided what is good and bad for us.  Has the FDA made bad decisions?  I am confident that there have been many mistakes. Should we think Marijuana is one of the mistakes?  The Truth is: Marijuana is one of the most scrutinized and tested drugs by the government an private entities regarding medical use.  Smoked Marijuana is and will continue to be an illegal substance with no medical use.

Making Marijuana Legal may save money initially, but will it same money in the long run?  There is NO question that fighting the war on drugs is costly.  Marijuana is definitely a pricy drug to combat.  This cost is always passed on to society and requires tax dollars.  Some say it could save the government millions of dollars just by legalizing Marijuana. The government spends billions each year fighting the "War on Drugs."  How many more billions would have to be spent in order to stop the problems caused by Marijuana?

It would no longer infringe upon personal freedom.  This has been an argument used for many years to legalize Marijuana.  The truth is we give up freedoms every day due to laws passed by our government to protect each other.  Is a restriction as small as not using a substance, overwhelmingly beneficial to society as a whole?  In this case, Marijuana Anti-prohibitionist have no standing.  Others rights should not be compromised by another persons freedom to do as they will.  "If someone can guarantee that NO ONE will be hurt by their Marijuana use, then they are free to do as they will, but in that same case, they will never be known."  This statement was made because no one would be caught using Marijuana if they were not affecting society in some way.

Scientists studying marijuana's potential medical uses have found that it may help treat a variety of conditions.

Nausea
One of THC's medical uses best supported by research is the treatment of nausea. It can improve mild to moderate nausea caused by cancer chemotherapy and help reduce nausea and weight loss in people with AIDS.

Younger people may find marijuana more useful as a treatment for nausea than do older people — who may not tolerate its mind-altering side effects as well. The prescription form, dronabinol, also may produce psychological side effects that make it inappropriate for some older people. Doctors generally prescribe several kinds of newer anti-nausea drugs with fewer side effects before resorting to dronabinol.

Glaucoma
This disease — the third-leading cause of blindness in the United States — is marked by increased pressure in the eyeball, which can lead to vision loss.

In the early 1970s, scientists discovered that smoking marijuana reduced pressure in the eyes. Exactly how the cannabinoids in marijuana produce this effect isn't known. Scientists have discovered CB1 receptors in the eyes, which may provide clues for future research on how marijuana affects glaucoma.

Your doctor can prescribe other medications to treat glaucoma, but these can lose their effectiveness over time. Researchers are working to develop medications containing cannabinoids that can be put directly on the eyes — to avoid the mind-altering side effects and other health consequences of smoking the plant.

Pain
People widely used marijuana for pain relief in the 1800s, and several studies have found that cannabinoids have analgesic effects. In fact, THC may work as well in treating cancer pain as codeine, a mild pain reliever. Cannabinoids also appear to enhance the effects of opiate pain medications to provide pain relief at lower dosages.

Researchers currently are developing new medications based on cannabis to treat pain.

Multiple sclerosis
Research results on the effectiveness of cannabinoids in the treatment of the tremors, muscle spasms and pain of multiple sclerosis (MS) — a disease of the nervous system that can cause muscle pain — are mixed. A 2003 study found that cannabinoids significantly reduced pain in people with multiple sclerosis. 1

Some scientists feel that more research may show cannabinoids useful in treating MS. Marijuana may protect nerves from the kind of damage that occurs during the disease. They also suggest that animal study results, knowledge of CB1 receptors in the brain and users' reports of decreased symptoms after using marijuana support this possibility. However, others advise caution in using marijuana to treat MS, given the modest therapeutic effects cannabinoids have demonstrated so far and the potential of long-term adverse side effects.

CONS:

Along with the legal implications, smoking marijuana poses several health risks, including:

• Impairment of thinking, problem-solving skills and memory
• Reduced balance and coordination
• Increased risk of heart attack
• Heightened risk of chronic cough and respiratory infections
• Potential for hallucinations and withdrawal symptoms

Also, marijuana smoke contains 50 percent to 70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than does tobacco smoke and has the potential to cause cancer of the lungs and respiratory tract. Marijuana smoke is commonly inhaled deeper and held longer than is tobacco smoke, increasing the lungs' exposure to carcinogens.1

Marijuana is a Federally Schedule I Drug.  This means that it is against the law to possess, sell, grow or buy.  You will be fined or go to jail for its possession.

NOTE: The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Nevada's largest police agency, accounted for 2,786 (56%) of the 4,973 statewide "arrests" for marijuana possession. Of the arrests reported by the LVMPD, 1,730 persons (nearly 2/3) were issued misdemeanor citations (tickets) for possession of marijuana one ounce or less and released. (LVMPD Uniform Crime Report, 2005)

State law's are not "decriminalizing" marijuana, they are just making it easier to deal with in the court system and make fines more beneficial for the states and offenders.  Speeding is a criminal offense.  Just because you pay a fine, that does not make it "decriminalized". 

You can go to jail for almost every criminal offense committed.  Speeding, Jay walking and yes, possession of marijuana can end you up in jail.  This holds true for states that have made marijuana possession a misdemeanor.  Before making small amounts of marijuana possession a misdemeanor or minor offense, the courts were so overwhelmed that cases would be thrown out.   Now states that have made Marijuana possession a minor offense with a fine, states can now receive fines and revenue from places they did not before.  It is a smart move to make small amounts of Marijuana possession a fine that the offender can now pay with little or no cost to the courts.

Even in states that have adopted new Marijuana possession laws, offenders have to pay for lawyers, imposed fines and or classes, and pay for the record sealing process.

Under current Nevada law, one ounce or less of marijuana is a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum fine of $600. (Nevada Revised Statute 453.336)

In 2005, Only 3% of the more than 155,000 arrests made by officers statewide were for marijuana possession.

Only one of the nearly 11,000 inmates incarcerated by the Nevada Department of Corrections  are currently serving a sentence for "possession of marijuana." That inmate is also serving sentences for armed robbery and other drug charges. (NV Dept. of Corrections records review of current inmates)

Anti-Prohibition Marijuana sites use miss-information to confuse the issues.  They cloud the issue of THC(delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) possibly having anti-cancer properties with having to smoke marijuana to get that benefit.

Smoking marijuana is just an excuse to get "high".  Smoking marijuana causes a "buzz" that smokers like and is euphoric. 

"MARINOL treats nausea and vomiting associated with cancer chemotherapy in patients who have failed to respond adequately to conventional treatments. MARINOL also treats appetite loss associated with weight loss in people who have acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). " 2

Drugs like Marinol which are prescribed by doctors offer similar  benefits that the THC in Marijuana have.  Only exception, it does not make you "High".  Smokers of marijuana do not go out and promote only Marinol, they promote Marijuana because they like the way Marijuana makes them feel.

As medicine progresses and studies show more benefits with THC, expect new drugs to enter the market, but they will not have the same mind and mood altering affects experienced through smoking Marijuana.

Being Misled: 

"The public will believe anything, so long as it is not founded on truth."                                                                         Edith Sitwell (1887 - 1964)

MPP - The Marijuana Policy Project http://www.mpp.org states the following in the Marijuana Propaganda distributed:

[“Zero tolerance” policies against “drugged driving” can result in “DUI” convictions of drivers who are not intoxicated at all. Trace amounts of THC metabolites — detected by commonly used tests — can linger in blood and urine for weeks after any psychoactive effects have worn off. This is equivalent to convicting someone of “drunk driving” weeks after he or she drank one beer. 20]

This "fact" is cited by "Swann, P., “The Real Risk of Being Killed When Driving Whilst Impaired by Cannabis,” Australian Studies of Cannabis and Accident Risk, 2000."

Read what Swann really said:                                     The Real Risk...

By changing what one says, others can be mislead into believing all but the truth.  These are the facts:  Drugs affect different people in different ways.  Whilst one may be able to function and drive "normally" being under the influence, another may be impaired by a small dose. 

For example, DUI laws vary from .10 to .08 and some are trying to go as low as .06.  Studies have shown that people who rarely drink can merely consume a few beers and be unable to drive a car effectively.  Significant and frequent drinkers have been known to pass field sobriety tests even with blood alcohol content well above the illegal per se. (.10 BAC)  So how is this possible?  Tolerance and many other factors like sex, age, weight, etc. 

Even in this statement the word "psychoactive effects" is used.  Psychoactive means :"chemical substances that alter mood, behavior, perception, or mental functioning." Is legalizing psychoactive drugs is a good idea?

MPP - The Marijuana Policy Project http://www.mpp.org states the following in the Marijuana Propaganda distributed:

[Because marijuana is typically used in private, trampling the Bill of Rights is a routine part of marijuana law enforcement.]

Marijuana is rarely used in private but is sometimes "smoked" in private.  Unless you grow your own, do not drive or leave your house, do not sell or share it, or have anyone else around you when you smoke it then your "marijuana is typically used in private".  Each time you smoke marijuana and then have to get into a vehicle to get more, get food or necessities, you bring marijuana use to the public.

Nearly all marijuana possession arrests are "crimes of observation" meaning that an officer has contact with the offender, observes the possession of marijuana, and makes the arrest. In many cases, the marijuana observation is made after the officer has contact with the individual for another incident. (DUI, Domestic Violence, Disorderly Conduct, etc.)5

Surveys of adolescents in the United States over the past 30 years have consistently shown [3,4] that: almost all adolescents who had tried cocaine and heroin had first used alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis, in that order.

Children are always affected by Marijuana, just as alcohol. other drugs, and an almost endless list of other traumas.  "Children of addicted parents are the highest risk group of children to become alcoholics and drug abusers due to both genetic and family environment factors. lack of basic care including failure to provide meals, sanitary and safe living conditions or schooling."

LVMPD officers were dispatched to more than one million "calls for service" which resulted in 91,000 arrest in 2005. Marijuana possession arrests accounted for less than 1/2 of one percent of the LVMPD's calls for service.(LVMPD Computer Assisted Dispatch records, 2005)

How Marijuana can cost you.  Besides buying Marijuana, it can cost you more that you ever expected.  College scholarships have been canceled, and financial aid can be lost due to Marijuana convictions (even citations).  Job opportunities can be limited for Marijuana Smokers.  Since Marijuana can stay in the system for periods longer than other drugs, Drug tests can "weed" out Marijuana Users.  DUI and Under the Influence cases can be one of the most expensive battles to settle in criminal court.  Civil liabilities and lawsuits can arise from any mistakes made while under the influence. 

Legalizing Marijuana would also cause one more concern.  To keep a law Constitutional, it has to be equal for everyone and not just certain people.  Doctors, Nurses, Lawyers, Police, Firefighters and Daycare Providers would be able to use and possess small amounts of marijuana if it was legalized.  Would you want to drop you newborn child off at a Daycare on your way to get surgery at a hospital knowing that they could have just smoked some "legal" Marijuana?  Remember if it is ok for you, then why not everyone else?

 

NEFN hopes you make sound and informed decisions about drug and Marijuana use.

1  Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER).  1998-2008  

2  www.marinol.com/index.html    

3 Kandel DB. Stages in adolescent involvement in drug use. Science. 1975;190:912 914.

 

4     Kandel, DB.; Yamaguchi, K. Stages of drug involvement in the U. S. population. In: Kandel DB. , editor. Stages and pathways of drug involvement: Examining the gateway hypothesis. New York: Cambridge University Press; 2002. pp. 65–89.  

 

5 (2005 Crime and Justice in Nevada, http://www.nvrepository.state.nv.us

* Statistics from National Institute on Drug Abuse, Child Welfare League of America, National Survey of Drug Use