c11d13d5   
   XPost: talk.politics.misc, alt.politics, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh   
   XPost: alt.politics.usa   
   From: pxhxz@cadence.com   
      
   In article <8f68f90a-10da-4f72-8b8d-f6aa4e8da7fd@e12g2000yqi.googlegroups.com>   
   M_P  writes:   
   >On Sep 30, 8:23=A0am, Topaz  wrote:   
      
   >> Researchers have learned that it   
   >> impairs the ability of young people to concentrate and retain   
   >> information during their peak learning years, and when their brains   
   >> are still developing. The THC [which is the active ingredient that   
   >> produces the high] in marijuana attaches itself to receptors in the   
   >> hippocampal region of the brain, weakening short-term memory and   
   >> interfering with the mechanisms that form long-term memory. Do our   
   >> struggling schools really need another obstacle to student   
   >> achievement?   
      
   >Who advocates legalizing marijuana for minors? Since teens report that   
   >they can get marijuana more easily than beer or cigarettes, it appears   
   >that legalizing for adults is the best way to keep it out of kids'   
   >hands.   
      
   Note also that the effects listed are the direct effects of THC while it is   
   active (for the 4-8 hours after ingesting, smoking, whatever) and aren't long-   
   term or permanent effects.   
      
   Alcohol is much more detrimental to short-term memory while it is active in   
   the system (except for small amounts, which actually seem to help learning).   
   Components of marijuana have also been found to be protective of brain   
   function as a result of stroke, etc.   
      
   >> and the number of marijuana-related emergencies is   
   >> growing. Each year, for example, marijuana use is linked to tens of   
   >> thousands of serious traffic accidents.   
      
   >Same "linkage" as above, I wonder?   
      
   Almost probably.  Actual studies of the influence of marijuana alone on   
   driving show no increase in accidents in marijuana-only users, even when   
   under the influence.  It does, though, increase the accident rate over alcohol   
   when used along with alcohol.   
      
   >> Research has now established that marijuana is in fact addictive. Of   
   >> the 4.3 million Americans who meet the diagnostic criteria for needing   
   >> drug treatment ...   
      
   >> not police departments or prosecutors) two-thirds are   
   >> dependent on marijuana, according to HHS.   
      
   >I'll bet much more than two-thirds of all drug users are marijuana   
   >users, so Walter's factoid proves only that marijuana is much less   
   >addictive than other drugs.   
      
   I think you mean "illegal drug users".  Alcohol is still the most popular   
   (and arguably the most dangerous) drug in general use.   
      
   >> Says prosecutor Volkov: "The experience in D.C. shows that marijuana   
   >> dealers are no less violent than cocaine and heroin traffickers. They   
   >> have just as much money to lose, just as much turf to lose, and just   
   >> as many reasons to kill as any drug trafficker."   
   >> Skeptics will charge that this kind of violence is just one more   
   >> reason to legalize marijuana. A review of the nation's history with   
   >> drug use suggests otherwise:   
      
   >The following fact, even assuming it's true, in no way refutes the   
   >fact that dealers would lose their profit margins and market if   
   >marijuana was legalized ... as alcohol Prohibition teaches us.   
      
   And also if you look at the nation's complete history with drug use,   
   particularly alcohol prohibition, you will notice that the alcohol   
   distribution system during prohibition was rife with violence (remember   
   the "Valentine's Day Massacre" anyone?), and alcohol was relegalized partly   
   because of that, partly because of the disrespect for the law it engendered,   
   and partly because there was MORE underage use during prohibition.   
      
   >> OKAYAMA, Japan, July 1 (UPI) -- Genetic anomalies tied with   
   >> marijuana-activated brain chemicals appear linked to schizophrenia,   
   >> Japanese researchers report.   
      
   Oh, yeah, that old canard.  Yes, it is true that if you are susceptable   
   to developing schizophrenia that marijuana use may make the onset appear   
   sooner -- but the schizophrenia rate does not change with the marijuana   
   use rate, which pretty much proves that marijuana use does not cause   
   schizophrenia.   
      
   -Pete Zakel   
    (phz@seeheader.nospam)   
      
   "There is no time like the present for postponing what you ought to be doing."   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)